- Title: Enter a Wizard, Stage Left
- Author: Connie di Marco
- ASIN : B09JGV526H
- Publisher : Suspense Publishing (October 26, 2021)
- Publication date : October 26, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 2613 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
Julia Bonatti wasn’t always a crime-solving San Francisco astrologer. She was a young woman, engaged to the love of her life, preparing for a teaching career when tragedy struck. Her fiancé was killed in a hit and run accident. As Julia struggles with her loss and attempts to find meaning in her life again, she takes refuge with her grandmother Gloria. But there’s little time for grief or rest because Gloria, a retired seamstress, needs Julia’s help. Gloria’s been hired to create costumes for a production of Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death at the newly opened Theatre Mars in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood.
Theatre Mars is a stunning jewel, the cast is supremely talented and the script is brilliant. What could go wrong? Julia gets the first hint of trouble when her new friend, the owner of The Mystic Eye bookshop, warns that all might not go well. Opening night will take place during the dark of the moon, the last three days before the new moon, a time that bodes disaster for any new project. The dire prediction comes true when the lead actress is murdered before the final curtain, echoing the play itself. Julia discovers a vital clue to the murder, but a clue that puts Gloria’s life in grave danger. Can Julia rescue her grandmother before it’s too late? And will a black cat play a leading role?
Commentary
Let me start by stating that I won this e-book by being one of the first 20 people to reply to the author's free giveaway. I have loved this series since I read the other entries in the Zodiac Mysteries. The other books being
- The Madness of Mercury (Book 1)
- All Signs Point to Murder (Book 2)
- Tail of the Dragon (Book 3)
Enter a Wizard combines two of my favorite authors Connie di Marco and Agatha Christie. This story centers around a production of Christie's Appointment with Death where Julia's grandmother has been employed as the costume designer. This prequel couldn't have come at a better time since I had recently watched the 1998 film Appointment with Death last week so it was fresh in my mind.
However, you don't have to be a fan of Christie or know about the events of Appointment with Death to enjoy Enter a Wizard.
This story takes place approximately three months after the death of Julia's fiancé, Michael, and takes us through part of her grieving process as she is trying to figure out her life path now that she has completed her education and also needs to find a job. We also learn how she met her best friend Gale and how she began her study of Astrology that would prove so pivotal later in the Zodiac Mystery series of books.
At just over 100 pages Enter a Wizard is a quick read with a tight plot so you can read this in one sitting. The central mystery is quite clever and the astute reader will pick up on the clues that are hidden throughout the mystery. If you like to solve the mystery alongside the sleuth this is the story for you.
However, I wish that we learned a little more about Michael and the circumstances surrounding his death as the other books seems to suggest that there is more to those events that we have been told. Lastly, I don't understand the title. Its obviously a stage direction but I am note sure if it is common jargon in the theater industry or a line from Christie's book as I have not read Appointment with Death (yet).
That being said I give Enter a Wizard, Stage Left 4 out of 5 blunt instruments on Carolina Dean's murder-scale (patent pending). Ok ok, I am still working on my rating system.
Crime-Scene Dean
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