The murder of actor David Marlow is no surprise, since the man was uncouth and arrogant; loathed by cast and theatre crew alike. But there are a lot of questions and few answers.
Was Marlow somehow connected to a young woman’s death from a heroin overdose? Or is the reason for his murder much closer to home? DI Lyle and his team must pull out all the stops to unmask the killer before the greasepaint dries and the curtain rises on the chilling final act. I got stuck with Murder in the Wings because I put too much pressure on myself to get the late Frankie Fulwood’s cameo right. Frankie won the cameo shortly before his unexpected death last March & so I decided to dedicate the book to his memory. I wrote the book in tandem with Best Served Cold. Murder in the wings isn’t purely about murder though. DI Lyle & his team quickly realise that the late David Marlow was arrogant and almost everyone in the Ashbeck Players theatre company had a reasonable motive for killing him. There is quite a lot more sex in this than is usual for a DI Lyle book as I was trying to highlight the professional and sexual jealousies simmering beneath the surface. Young Detective Constable Thomas Fox provides a vital clue to the killer, which puts the team streets ahead as they manage to keep it back from both the Ashbeck Courier and the theatre company personnel. DC Fox has a lot of highs in this book, but he also has low points too. The story seeks to establish his burgeoning sexual relationship with James Lyle. There is another loosely connected life drama centred around a divorced couple within the theatre company and ex wife’s fractured relationship with both her ex husband and her own family. DI Lyle also has to confront issues of his own. Although he is now happily married to Jayseera, his ex wife Sarah still has the ability to wring him out emotionally, which she does in spectacular fashion. But did someone literally kill for a part? |