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The Clara Fitzgerald Mysteries #17
Death at the Pantomime
Winter has its clutches on Brighton and the pantomime has come to town. Clara Fitzgerald, Brighton's first female private detective, is looking forward to an evening of entertainment watching the Stratford Company performing Aladdin. But when Mr Maddock, the company director, hurriedly seeks her out after the show, she knows something is amiss. One of the actors has been murdered and his corpse thrust in a laundry basket. There seems no motive for the crime and no suspects. Maddock is desperate for Clara to solve the riddle before the crime can affect his pantomime. But that is not the only concern on Clara's mind. A familiar face is back in town and causing Clara to be dragged into the very gang trouble that Inspector Park-Coombs told her to keep out of. Forced by circumstances to delve once again into the murky underbelly of Brighton, Clara begins to ask herself who can she really trust? Death at the Pantomime is the seventeenth novel in the Clara Fitzgerald series and is published by Red Raven Publications.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 20, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 6, 2019
A good plot
Another good story from Ms James, I just wish the editing and proof reading was better. Dreadful grammatical errors; split infinitives, who instead of whom, and an insistence on saying "best do" when the correct phrase is had better. I'm not sure what "puttered" means in the context of a character's speech and there are several instances of a totally wrong word being used which are probably typographic errors. Such a shame as it all spoils the flow of the narrative. The publishers need to address this for future works.
Another good story from Ms James, I just wish the editing and proof reading was better. Dreadful grammatical errors; split infinitives, who instead of whom, and an insistence on saying "best do" when the correct phrase is had better. I'm not sure what "puttered" means in the context of a character's speech and there are several instances of a totally wrong word being used which are probably typographic errors. Such a shame as it all spoils the flow of the narrative. The publishers need to address this for future works.
April 2, 2020
Death of the Dame
Clara inadvertently finds a new case after helping a man who has fallen in the street and banged his head while carrying a number of awkward parcels. Maddock is fine and sends Clara 4 tickets to see Aladdin, the pantomime he's producing, by way of thanks.
But the evening is rather more eventful than a pantomime should be with a member of the audience loudly booing when the Dame first appears and a fire starting in the interval; this is fortunately quickly extinguished and the show, as it must, goes on.
Before Clara, O'Harris, Tommy and Annie can leave Maddocks draws them aside and asks for Clara's help. The Dame has been murdered and he'd rather not rely solely on the police to solve the case.
Clara readily agrees, anything to distract her from the gang trouble that's preying on her mind. She struggles to persuade Inspector Park-Coombes that he has the wrong man when he makes an arrest but determinedly continues searching for the real motive and killer.
Another run in with Chang Brilliant will, however, drop her straight into the middle of the one case she promised to walk away from.
Well written characters, interesting plot properly constructed and perfectly paced. As usual Evelyn James has everything in hand.
Clara inadvertently finds a new case after helping a man who has fallen in the street and banged his head while carrying a number of awkward parcels. Maddock is fine and sends Clara 4 tickets to see Aladdin, the pantomime he's producing, by way of thanks.
But the evening is rather more eventful than a pantomime should be with a member of the audience loudly booing when the Dame first appears and a fire starting in the interval; this is fortunately quickly extinguished and the show, as it must, goes on.
Before Clara, O'Harris, Tommy and Annie can leave Maddocks draws them aside and asks for Clara's help. The Dame has been murdered and he'd rather not rely solely on the police to solve the case.
Clara readily agrees, anything to distract her from the gang trouble that's preying on her mind. She struggles to persuade Inspector Park-Coombes that he has the wrong man when he makes an arrest but determinedly continues searching for the real motive and killer.
Another run in with Chang Brilliant will, however, drop her straight into the middle of the one case she promised to walk away from.
Well written characters, interesting plot properly constructed and perfectly paced. As usual Evelyn James has everything in hand.
January 13, 2020
I agree with Mrs Thompson. Perhaps the fault lies in the education system. During the last three /four years I have been appointed by my son to correct grammar and spelling in all the University submissions from my grandchildren. This involved hours of rescue work.
My pet hates are the superfluous preposition at the end of a sentence and the random use of "off".
P.S. When i wrote a similar review to Amazon I was warned about the content and am now banned from the ability to comment.
My pet hates are the superfluous preposition at the end of a sentence and the random use of "off".
P.S. When i wrote a similar review to Amazon I was warned about the content and am now banned from the ability to comment.
February 24, 2020
I enjoy the Clara Fitzgerald books for a quick read but everytime I pick one up I am really annoyed by the grammatical errors and typos, and particularly grating is the use of 'shall' when 'will' is meant. They are not interchangeable Ms James. Otherwise, this was a pleasant read with a goodish plot and nice to see the two romances are progressing at last.
May 14, 2020
cF books
I like the plots which are quite ingenious and the characters.
The relationships between a PD, a senior police officer and a gangster are unlikely and the Coroner is an Americanism. The dialogue is rather stilted and the use of the word ‘shall’ for will is odd. However, they pass the time during lockdown.
I like the plots which are quite ingenious and the characters.
The relationships between a PD, a senior police officer and a gangster are unlikely and the Coroner is an Americanism. The dialogue is rather stilted and the use of the word ‘shall’ for will is odd. However, they pass the time during lockdown.
June 16, 2020
This didn't hold my interest quite as much as some of the other books in the series - although the secondary story which looks as if it will continue into the next book(s) is actually really interesting.
May 13, 2020
Good story
As always a jolly good read. This time the action is within a pantomime at the theatre and with an underlying story entwined
Can't wait for the next one.
As always a jolly good read. This time the action is within a pantomime at the theatre and with an underlying story entwined
Can't wait for the next one.
August 17, 2020
Better than the last couple of Clara Fitzgerald books, but the proofreading and editing on all of these books is shockingly bad. Still, they’re an easy read and a good distraction from real life!
June 27, 2023
Another cracking mystery for Clara to solve.
I like the way there are two plots running alongside, one gets solved, the other leaves a promise of more to come!
I like the way there are two plots running alongside, one gets solved, the other leaves a promise of more to come!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews