Will the kiss of death claim Romeo and Juliet–and Sully–before opening night? When Edwina “Sully” Sullivan, a retired cop turned theater manager, learns that a production of Romeo and Juliet–which Cliffside Theater’s Dimitri Traietti left town to direct–is in serious trouble, she sets aside her grant applications and heads to Boston to help. Between managing Dimitri, consulting with costume … consulting with costume and set designers, and schmoozing with potential funders, Sully puts on nearly every hat in the biz. But the one hat she doesn’t expect to wear is that of her old job as a cop. When a socialite is murdered in Boston’s Public Garden, Sully’s ex-husband becomes the prime suspect. So she reprises her role as an ace investigator and once again steps into the spotlight to solve a crime.
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Edwina “Sully” Sullivan is using the slow winter months for the Cliffside Theater to work on grant proposals to help them build their own theater building. Meanwhile, Dimitri, the theater’s resident director, is working on a struggling adaptation of Romeo and Juliet down in Boston. When Sully gets a chance to go down and help for a few days, she figures this is a great time to schmooze with the people who will be awarding the grant. However, a murder after what was supposed to be a celebratory party turns Sully’s focus to other things. When people who knows start vanishing, can she figure out what is really going on?
I had forgotten just how much I loved these characters until I picked up this second in the series. The main characters are strong, and their relationships feel real. They also have multiple connections to the characters who are part of the mystery, which gives us multiple reasons to care. The book starts out focusing on the disaster of the play, but it is layering in information related to the mystery, so when the murder does happen, we are off and running quickly. I got so pulled into this book that I finished it in two days instead of my average three. In fact, I had to know what was going on, so I ignored other plans to finish it. The climax is very satisfying. I appreciated how Sully used her background as a cop to investigate and worked with the police to figure things out, a nice change from other cozies I read. I’m already hoping we get to visit with Sully and the rest of the gang again soon.
With a Kiss I Die, the second Theater Copy mystery from cozy author J. A. Hennrikus (aka Julia Henry, Julianne Holmes) finds Sully Sullivan in Boston helping her friend Dimitri with the production of Romeo and Juliet he’s been asked to direct at the Bay Repertory Theater, and trying to solicit funding for the Cliffside Theater back home in Trevorton. When Sully’s ex-husband, Gus, is suspected in the murder of wealthy Mimi Cunningham, Sully must find Gus, discover the murderer, and keep herself and those closest to her safe, all while ensuring that the play goes on. Quickly paced, and a very surprising ending. Loved it! A+++
Theater, Drama and Murder
This is a excellent mystery. The plot has quite a few moving pieces for the reader to keep track of. This is not a simplistic cozy! There is one story that revolves around a theater production and another plot that involving murder. This is a very good story. I will read more of this author’s work! I received this ARC for free from Net Galley. This is my honest review.
This is an engaging and well-told tale! I love the characters and the mystery is excellently presented. We meet and engage with many of the same characters from the first book. If you didn’t read the first book, you can still read this as a stand-alone, but you will be missing some of the character backgrounds that are referred to in this book. I truly hope that my copy was a grossly uncorrected ARC rather one that was nearly ready for release because it was filled with errors in grammar, word repeats, missing words, missing letters, etc. It was really hard to read and I almost gave up on it – had the story not been so entertaining and interesting, I probably would have. I hope all of that is fixed prior to release.
It is February in Massachusetts and very cold. The Cliffside Theater’s season in tiny Trevorton, near Boston, is hibernating until it is time to prepare for the summer season. Edwina, Sully, Sullivan, theater manager, still has work to do in applying for grants, planning for the upcoming season, preparing budgets, etc. but it isn’t something she has to be in her office to do. So, when she’s requested to go to Boston to help out with a disaster at Boston’s Bay Repertory Theater, she agrees to help.
Sully finds a mess at the theater and has her hands filled with trying to help them out. Then, one of the people from whom Sully was applying for a grant is murdered, the theater manager disappears and Sully’s ex-husband disappears. Sully is happy enough to let the police handle the murder investigation and the missing theater manager, but her cop instincts are twitching and she has to find Gus, her ex-husband.
So many things are going on – with so many twists-and-turns – that you won’t be able to stop reading. You have to know what happens next and what is behind all of the murder, blackmail, and disappearances.
I love the stories in this series so far, but it is missing romance. I love mysteries – and these are good ones – but I really need to have romance included in the story. I like them to be a couple – like Roarke and Eve Dallas in the In-Death series – and if they don’t have romance, I soon lose interest in the series – no matter how good the series is. So, I’m hoping that Gus and Sully will get back together in the next book because they are the perfect combination. Her cop skills and his lawyer skills could make for a great set of mysteries. Anyway – I’ll see where the next couple of books go – and hopefully, that will include going toward a romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.