Walking through London's West End after a night at the theatre, Amory Ames and her husband Milo run into old friends, the wealthy investor and former actor Gerard Holloway and his wife Georgina. When Holloway invites them to the dress rehearsal of a new play he is directing, Amory readily accepts.
However, she is shocked to learn that Holloway has cast his mistress, actress Flora Bell, in the lead role. Furthermore, the casual invitation is not what it seems-he admits to Amory and Milo that Flora has been receiving threatening letters, and he needs their help in finding the mysterious sender. Despite Amory's conflicting feelings-not only does she feel loyalty to Georgina, but the disintegration of the Holloways' perfect marriage seems to bode ill for her own sometimes delicate relationship-her curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins to make inquiries.
A bucket full of meh.
It's been 5 books now, since Amory decided to take her rogue of a husband back, and frankly, I'm sick and tired of wallowing with her in her anxiety about her marriage. Trust him or don't; keep him or kick him out; fish or cut bait. I don't actually care either way, though I suspect the series would be a lot better without her lifeless husband around. That's right: the 'rogue', the ladies man apparently nobody can resist, is about as exciting as white paint.
The mystery this time around wasn't enough to distract me from the angst, as it was set in a theatre (which trope never appeals to me), and the mystery might have been clever, except it was just too ridiculous. The author set her plot for stun, but over geared it and overshot the mark, landing somewhere in between incredulous and you've-got-to-be-kidding-me.
It's not a bad book, it's just not a very good one either. Everything about it felt like an example of stretching a point too far. The series started strong, so this might just be the runt of the litter and the next one will improve. But I'm not rushing out to buy it.
Reading updates
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23 September, 2019:
Started reading
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25 September, 2019:
Finished reading
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25 September, 2019:
Reviewed