I Only Read Murder
A Novel
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3.8 • 13 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Wickedly funny and full of surprising twists.” – Mark Leiren-Young, winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour
A once-beloved television sleuth finds herself far from Hollywood and witness to a murder during a small-town theatre production—and is convinced it’s up to her to solve the case.
Introducing a new comedic crime series from the bestselling Ferguson brothers, for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series and Schitt’s Creek
Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. Turned down for a role on a cable reality show, Miranda is facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. But when she gets there, nothing is what she expected.
In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theatre, competing against the local real estate agent for the lead role. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live, in front of the audience. But out of 100 witnesses, no one actually saw what happened. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the sardonic town doctor, the local high-school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an elderly gentleman who may or may not have been in the CIA—and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran and draw on the help of her new sidekick, Susan, a shy bookstore clerk who seems to know everyone’s secrets. Because the show must go on!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This uneven series launch from brothers Ian and Will Ferguson (How to Be Canadian) introduces Miranda Abbott, a self-absorbed actor whose star has faded in middle age. Fifteen years earlier, Miranda headlined a top-rated TV series as crime-solving cleric Pastor Fran; these days, she's struggling to land an appearance on the reality show The Real Has-Beens of Beverly Hills. After her long-suffering agent drops her when she refuses to play a grandmother in a fiber supplement commercial, Miranda receives a postcard with a cryptic message from Edgar, the husband she left many years ago to pursue her acting career. She interprets the note as a summons to join him in the sleepy town of Happy Rock, Ore., though when she arrives, she realizes Edgar wrote to request a divorce, not a rekindling. Making the best of things, Miranda decides to stay in Happy Rock and try out for the local community theater company's upcoming show. Then one of the cast members dies, and Miranda, certain that she was the intended victim, steps in to help solve the case. Miranda, while occasionally funny, grows grating over the course of a full novel, and the Fergusons take too long to set the mystery in motion. This series has potential, but the opening entry misses the mark.
