Moordenaar in schutkleur

Inhoud

Tessa Chrichton, een jonge actrice die getrouwd is met een inspecteur van Scotland Yard, krijgt een rol in Washington aangeboden. Al bij de eerste repetities wordt het gezelschap door pech achtervolgd, en kort daarna wordt een van de acteurs op straat neergestoken. Is het een gewone overval? Of is het moord? Tessa is ervan overtuigd dat een lid van het gezelschap de schuldige is.

Bespreking

Good story, but the ending is unconvincing

After a successful theatre run in London the comedy "Host of Pleasures" is moved to New York. Tessa Chrichton, a young actress who is married to an inspector of Scotland Yard, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she is offered to fill in for the actress who played one of the bigger parts of the play in London. When the first repetitions start the company is victim to a bad case of misfortune: not only is Gilbert Mann, their new lead actor, a major pain in the arse, also the other members are reacting in very strange ways. A few weeks before the premiere one of the actors is stabbed to death in the street. Is it a robbery? Or is it murder? Tessa is convinced that the perpetrator is a member of the company and she is determined to prove it.
Although it takes some time to read about the first murder, Anne Morice succeeds in keeping the suspense alive even without any mention of a crime. She even lets the main characters speculate about possible murder scenarios before the murder has occurred. This clearly sets the light-hearted atmosphere that is maintained throughout the whole story.
Sadly enough the promise of a very complex and interesting denouement shatters to pieces on the last few pages. Anne Morice certainly fails to deliver a satisfying ending because she tries too hard to make sure nobody is going to foresee the conclusion and comes up with an ending that is quite unconvincing.