A Murder Is Rehearsed

"A witty, wonderfully entertaining mystery that fizzes with humour, theatrical mayhem and clever plotting." Hannah Dennison, author of the Honeychurch Hall mysteries

Nothing says an English Christmas like a pantomime, and in December 1952, the MiddleFox Players celebrate fifty years of panto by staging Cinderella. Middle Foxton, a picturesque Kent market town, mostly keeps itself to itself, but not this year as the panto takes on a life and death of its own. At the final dress rehearsal, Fairy Godmother—played by Terrence Mitten, second-rate actor on his way down—fails to heed shouts of "Behind you!" from the audience and is killed when Cinderella's coach falls on him. Before Prince Charming can pull the glass slipper from his pocket, Detective Sergeant Arno Mackerell is on the scene—literally, because he is playing Grizelda, one of the Ugly Stepsisters. Arno—who botched a bank robbery enquiry the year before and wants to clear his name—takes the case, promising the cast, his superintendent and the town that Cinderella will open on Christmas Eve as scheduled. But motives for the murder abound—Terrence Mitten couldn't have made more enemies if he had tried. The enquiry becomes a slog as Arno is helped—or is it hindered?—by the rest of the cast members as well as an overly enthusiastic local reporter—but the murderer isn't finished yet. Who is next on the list—Prince Charming? Cinderella? Or Arno himself?