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Friday, March 10, 2023

The Perfect Staging for Murder, by Kathlenn Bridge

 

Wow, life in the Hamptons is far more exciting than I thought it was. Movie stars? Sure. Fancy homes and mansions? Sure. Movie making. But, murder? Let's just say, you're eavesdropping on the filming of the final scene in a production as the book opens, thunder and lightening raging outside a lighthouse, and that's just the beginning.

Who killed the arrogant director of the show? It isn't like there isn't a long line of suspects, including his children. Even Meg's boyfriend, Patrick, the scrip-writer is a suspect after a public argument with the director. Why is Patrick suddenly missing? Will Meg's ability to read lips, a skill she's fine tuned since being forced to wear a hearing aid from her teens, be a help or a hindrance? Who left a dead fish on the hood of Meg's vehicle? Why was Julie known as a Black Widow? Who....oh, more than enough teasers. 

Overall, although I wasn't quite taken by Meg, I enjoyed the book. One issue I had was the frequent detours. By detours I mean, oh, Meg picking up her phone from a desk and we get the history of where she got the desk and why. Or, say, just as she pulls out her murder board, the action stops as she thinks about how she once designed the interior of a child's tree house. All somewhat interesting but not when it seems to slow things down and be unrelated.Hence, a 3.5 rating rounded up because I found the mystery itself quite interesting.

Thanks #NetGalley and #BeyondThePagePublishing for allowing me this backstage look at not just movie making but life in East Hamptons, or Montauk to be exact.

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