Murder And Sullivan

Joan Spencer #3

by Sara Hoskinson Frommer

When judge David Putnam is murdered before his big scene in the local theater production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore, violinist Joan Spencer and her lover detective, Fred Lindquist, search for a killer, unaware of the deadly conclusion that awaits them. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Music, Cozy

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Mattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, fun murder mystery. Appealed to the G&S geek/community theater performer in me.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I was watching the Mikado and was thinking, hmm, someone should write a mystery with Gilbert & Sullivan for a backdrop...and of course it's been done ten times over, this being one such effort, set during an amateur production of Ruddigore, which I actually don't know since it's not one of the big G&S operettas, but will watch now.

It was a *very* cozy mystery in the sense that the protagonist doesn't have any official standing to participate in the investigation, and doesn't even get any pushback for her gentle inquiries of her neighbours and fellow participants in the operetta, and even at the denouement it's not really her investigative skill that nets the murderer, though she is valiant enough to rescue the ending.

Besides this, there were a couple of things I would have liked to see changed: first, I would expect a novel featuring G&S to have some humour in it, but this didn't; second, there were many instances where we see the protagonist's thoughts but they're not italicised as is conventional. This could be a problem with Kindle formatting, but it was pretty bad. There were a couple of other editing errors.

Overall it wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it was a decent effort.

[Leta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the things I particularly like about this book is that it's one of the few set during a community theater production that gets community theater right. And as with all of the other Joan Spencer books, the characters and story are engaging and the book is well written.

The only quibble I've had with these books is that Joan's teenage son is probably better behaved any other teenager I've ever met, but that's a very small quibble in an otherwise very enjoyable series.

[Ellen Marchessault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Number three in the Joan Spencer series. This time a local judge, David Putnam, dies onstage during the opening performance of Ruggidore, while Joan is in the pit orchestra. Joan had recently met him when she had "saved" his daughter during a tornado. Joan is also nearly a victim herself when the killer tricks her by telling her that her son Andrew is injured at a quarrly. SPOILER ALERT: Virgil Shoals killed Putnam to prevent him from exposing Virgil's shoddy construction methods.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK. Not fabulous, but OK. It's a nice diversion. I did not figure out the killer as early as in some other books.

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a bit to get into. The end went fast as I was waiting for someone to have same day surgery.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good characters