Product Description

During an amateur production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Judge David Putnam died on stage--literally. Sawing away in the orchestra pit, Joan Spencer didn't see a thing, but she knew there had to be a killer behind the scenes. With local detective Fred Lundquist in tow, Joan set out to find out why the good judge's script had been so dramatically rewritten--and by whom. Martin's Press.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1474123 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 252 pages

From Booklist
In the small town of Oliver, Indiana, a well-liked judge is murdered onstage during a local performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta Ruddigore. The director of the Senior Citizens Center, Joan Spencer, is playing the viola in the orchestra when it happens, and her ties with the judge's family--and with nearly everyone else in Oliver--draw her into the investigation. This third mystery in the series is a neatly plotted cozy filled with deft touches: Joan's affectionate relationship with her college-age son; what to do in Indiana during a tornado; the surreal dream of knowing, even in sleep, that you have to pee. Joan's relationship with local police officer Fred Lundquist is traced in the tentative dance of older lovers, as the debris of their past (she's a widow; he's divorced) swirls about them. A bit of melodrama at the denouement doesn't mask the basic intelligence and warm charm of this series. GraceAnne DeCandido

From Kirkus Reviews
Oliver, Indiana, is now home to widow Joan Spencer and her college student son Andrew (Buried in Quilts, 1997, etc.). Joan is director of the Senior Citizens' Center and plays viola in the town's symphony orchestra, which is doing Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore at Oliver College. The cast--students and townspeople- -includes local Justice David Palmer, whose little daughter had been saved by Joan in a recent tornado. Also backstage are carpenter Zach Yoder and his boss Virgil Shoals, both heavily involved in repairing tornado damage--such as Joan's torn-up porch and the next-door house of elderly Henry Palmer, David's uncle, whose fall through a floor put him in the hospital. It's two weeks after the tornado when, on the opening night of Ruddigore, David Palmer is found stabbed to death and Joan's policeman friend Fred Lundquist has to find someone with opportunity and motive among the dozens of people involved in the production. He makes heavy weather of it, too, especially after the autopsy shows the use of two weapons--the knife in Putnam's back being found not the cause of death. The investigation falls into limbo until Joan stumbles on what she thinks is a vital clue, sending out signals that mark her as the killer's next victim. Ardent Gilbert and Sullivan followers will enjoy the Ruddigore replay, but puzzle fans will find little to admire here in the dull characters, repetitive details of investigation procedure, endless domestic trivia, and clumsy plotting. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Like Gilbert and Sullivan, Murder & Sullivan Scores Big!
Perhaps the best of the Joan Spenser mysteries, Murder and Sullivan is soooo much fun! The main character is this ordinary music-loving lady, Joan, and she's always up to her neck in danger! I love all of Sara Hoskinson Frommer's books. They're fabulous reads if you like mysteries. A writer friend of mine says she thinks Frommer is the best mystery writer out there today..and she might be right, too.

A fine work, especially for Gilbert & Sullivan fans
Sara Hoskinson Frommer has taken all the best elements of a murder mystery. She gets you caring about the characters and wanting to find the killer, and when you find out whodunit, you say to yourself, "Of course, I should have seen that." I loved the Gilbert & Sullivan references at the beginning of each chapter, and what an ingenious, Gilbertian plot twist to murder a "ghost." The only problem is that I am a Gilbert & Sullivan performer, and I'm going to be afraid if I ever get cast in the role of Sir Roderic Murgatroyd.

Sara Frommer does it again!
Murder & Sullivan is another gem from Sara H. Frommer, a writer who understands music and real people. I'm not a professional book reviewer by any means, but I know what's good when I read it. I've read other books by this author and all of them are I think, wonderful.