Stella’s job as assistant director requires her to baby-sit the dynamic and intense co-owner and operator of the theater, Barbara Steadman, who has become the stage mother from hell. The play being performed is Barbara’s first attempt as a playwright and is an anti-drug morality tale for children with deeper layers of meaning for many of the cast and crew. When Stella finds it necessary to banish a hysterical and angry Barbara from the set, she is horrified a short time later to find her behind the curtains, hanging from a rope wrapped around her neck. The guilt Stella feels and her concern for Barbara’s son, Phillip, weigh heavily in her decision to begin investigating.

Stella uncovers a long list of Barbara’s enemies, beginning with her husband, Lawrence, who had argued publicly with her the week before and had asked for a divorce. Other members of the cast and crew have motives, including Rachel, who may be a little too possessive towards Lawrence.

In the meantime, Stella’s personal life is complicated when her journalist boyfriend, Jason, receives a job offer in New York. Stella would like him to consult and discuss it with her before accepting, and Jason attributes her reticence to jealously of his new success. Confusing matters for Stella, she has another psychic spell, which she describes as “the hyper-ability to sniff out disaster without any ability to know where it’s coming from or who it’s going to happen to.” Does her spell foretell trouble at the theater or is something ominous going to happen to Jason?

The details surrounding Barbara’s state of health after the attempt on her life are somewhat confusing to follow. First, she is listed in critical condition at the hospital and kept in a state of unconsciousness in order to heal. However, many of the characters speak of her in the past tense throughout the rest of the book, although others do not. Halfway through the book, a reference is made to her health slowly improving, but afterwards, there is no follow-up. In addition, I have a personal objection to books in which the first murder occurs and must then be solved in less than the last twenty-five pages.

All in all, Ms. Jorgensen’s mystery contains a convoluted and elaborate plot, filled with extravagant scenes and numerous unusual and multi-faceted characters. As an added bonus, those readers who delight in the theater will particularly enjoy this book. Although Stella’s forte is not detecting, she is a determined, kind-hearted, and honest amateur sleuth with a unique personality.

--Monica Pope