In the
latest in this '70s set series, a long-disbanded provincial rep
company get back together after 20 years to revive their production
of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. Unfortunately, the whole thing
has turned into a vanity project for the lead actor, Mark Cotton, who
in the interim has become a household name in a cop show on the
telly. Tensions build, a gruesome murder ensues right in front of the
first night audience, and DCI Monika Paniatowski must investigate,
even though she's expecting a baby at any moment.
During
the opening stages of the novel, the seedy theatrical backdrop is
handled very well, with plenty of backstage bitchiness and simmering
resentments. The author creates a cast of amusingly flawed yet
ultimately sympathetic characters and clearly has a lot of fun with
Mark Cotton, a monster in the great tradition of vain, preening,
venomously spiteful luvvies. And there's no loss of vim and verve
once the investigation gets under way, largely thanks to the
entertainment value of Paniatowski's two colourful sidekicks, the
long-suffering DI Beresford and the spiky DS Meadows.
Throughout,
Sally Spencer shows a gift for brisk narrative, crisp prose and
spirited banter, while the period setting is handled so subtly than
for most of the time you're scarcely aware of it. Fans of mysteries
with a theatrical or showbiz milieu – especially Simon Brett's
Charles Paris novels – need not hesitate.
