Deadly Director's Cut

Vicki Delany — 2022

Daring resort manager Elizabeth Grady will need to think fast to bring a killer into the limelight in this charming 1950s set cozy mystery series. Famous director Elias Theropodous has chosen Haggerman's Catskills Resort as a shooting location for his next film. It sounds glamorous to much of the staff, but resort manager Elizabeth Grady is less satisfied. Dealing with the ridiculous demands of the antagonistic director is bad enough, and his attempts to walk all over Elizabeth are making her feel like her position at the resort has been changed into a bit part. But when Elias is poisoned during a dinner at the resort, the future of the film and the resort itself are on the line. Between an aging movie star, a harried producer, and former victims of the deceased director's wrath, Elizabeth has a full cast of suspects to examine, and she'll need to investigate every lead to catch a killer.

Reviews

Sarah Sammis@pussreboots

Apr 4, 2024

** spoiler alert ** The mystery itself, less the set decoration and side plots, reminded me of Muffin to Fear by Victoria Hamilton (2019). Part of that is the setting — New York state, though the two locations are separated by roughly 250 miles and approximately six decades. There is still the shared experience of an unexpected film crew, a dead film crew member, and various celebrities to contend with. Ultimately, though, this mystery is one giant shell game of suspects and motives. While the first book made use of a currently popular trope, this one stuck more closely to mystery tropes from the era in which the mystery is set. Keeping that in mind and knowing the trick to the shell game, I was able to figure out who the murderer was before Elizabeth. Despite that, it was a fun and dramatic read. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...