Death on a Deadline
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- £12.99
Publisher Description
Editor-in-chief Irene Ingram pencils in her newest mystery in Joyce St. Anthony’s second captivating Homefront News mystery, perfect for fans of Anne Perry and Rhys Bowen.
As World War II rages in Europe and the Pacific, the small town of Progress is doing its part for the soldiers in the field with a war bond drive at the annual county fair. Town gossip Ava Dempsey rumors that Clark Gable will be among the participating stars. Instead of Gable, the headliner is Freddie Harrison, a B-movie star. When Freddie turns up dead in the dunk tank, Irene Ingram, editor-in-chief of The Progress Herald, starts chasing the real headline.
There are plenty of suspects and little evidence. Ava’s sister Angel, who was married to the dead actor, is the most obvious. The couple had argued about his affair with the young starlet Belinda Fox, and Angel was the last person to see Freddie alive.
Irene discovers there’s more than one person who might have wanted Freddie dead. As Irene draws on her well-honed reporter’s instincts to find the killer—nothing is what it seems in Progress, and now her own deadline could be right around the corner.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's the summer of 1942 in St. Anthony's enjoyable sequel to Front Page Murder, and 22-year-old Irene Ingram continues to act as editor-in-chief of the Progress Herald in Progress, Pa., in place of her father while he serves as a war correspondent in the Pacific. Hollywood is leading the war bond effort, and residents of Progress are abuzz about a group of actors coming to the town fair to help sell bonds. One starlet is hometown girl Angela Harrison, who's estranged from her roguish husband, B-movie star Freddie, who's also on the tour. When Freddie turns up dead and rumors of a secret black book he had are whispered about, Irene sets out to discover the truth of what happened. Multiple suspects and complications, including a second murder, keep the pages turning. St. Anthony does a fine job bringing the period and place to life while taking care to develop secondary characters likely to play roles in future installments. The identity of the culprit comes as a real surprise. Readers will hope to see a lot more of Irene and friends.
