Murder in a Teacup…Live on Stage!
I bought two theater based mysteries when I was at Malice Domestic in April. The second of those was The Last Line, and it entertained me from the first line to the last.
Our protagonist is Ellie Marlowe, who runs a small theater in Massachusetts. It’s struggling to survive, but she’s hopeful that the latest play, Murder in a Teacup, will be successful enough to give them a little breathing room.
Unfortunately, the leading man is Reginald Thornton IV, a pompous arrogant jerk who seems to go out of his way to antagonize and alienate everyone he comes in contact with. At the play’s climax, his character is supposed to drink from a teacup and then die. On opening night, the scene’s a little too realistic since Reginald has really died. While the state police think it is a heart attack, something doesn’t feel right to Ellie and her friend Bill, the chief of police in their village. Even though neither have standing, can they figure out what really happened?
Before we go further, we need to talk about tone. I went into this expecting a cozy, but it became obvious as I went along that this isn’t that light hearted. This falls more into the traditional sub-genre, with some of the things that come out are more serious. Nothing gets too graphic, and there is only a smattering of foul language. Just know this going in, and you’ll be fine. And it is worth reading since the story touches on some things that give the book a bit more depth than a typical cozy. I enjoyed that.
I had to give props to the author for the murder staging. Yes, it’s the kind of thing that would only happen in fiction, but I’m here for it. And yes, the how does make it plausible when we reach the solution. I was successfully distracted by some red herrings, so I didn’t figure out what was really happening until about the time Ellie and Bill did.
Ellie has Tourette’s syndrome, something the author also struggled with. His purpose in including it was to show what it is really like, not the portrayals we see in much of the popular media. Sadly, the ticks she deals with become a distraction for us as we are reading.
On the whole, I did love Ellie as a character. She and Bill are both strong leads that we truly get to know as the book progresses. This may be the first book they are in, but I feel like I’ve spent more time with them than that. The rest of the cast is also strong, but they aren’t as well developed.
We get the story told from multiple points of view, mostly Ellie and Bill. Unfortunately, the book suffered a little bit from head hopping, which always distracts me.
I really appreciate how Ellie and Bill’s relationship is handled. They are friends who are married to other people. Those marriages felt realistic to me, with some issues but mostly strong. It was a nice change not only to see good relationships but also to see something different in the romance department.
This is one of three books I’m aware of that Crooked Lane released last year that appear to be a standalone. Of all three, this one didn’t feel like it was trying to set up a series. Having said that, if a sequel were to appear, I’d definitely give it a chance.
The Last Line mostly overcomes its weaknesses. I was pulled into the story and enjoyed getting to know the two leads. If you enjoy theater, give this book a chance.
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