Spring Into Horror: The Mystery Musical

Happy First of May to all and to not only celebrate the conclusion of the Spring Into Horror readathon (hosted by Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading) but the announcement of the Tony Award nominations today, my wrap-up for this challenge will be musical styled!

Since my TBR for this event was mystery themed, Stephanie Barron’s Jane and the Final Mystery seemed a suitable place to start. This last entry in the Jane Austen Mysteries has the famed writer doing battle with her decreasing health as well as seeking out the truth regarding a bizarre drowning at a local college.

Jane’s nephew Edward was a recent student there and connected by friendship to the young man accused of doing away with one of his tormenting colleagues. While most of the evidence is sketchy at best, it is not long before an injustice is about to take place. Can Jane discover the truth before another life is  unfortunately taken?

As with all of the books in this excellent series, Barron makes Austen come alive on the page and her detective skills are as sharp as her legendary wit. It is sad to see these books arrive at an end but this was an engaging mystery series that paid loving tribute to Jane Austen, giving her such wonderful adventures that place her up there with Sherlock Holmes or James Bond(the latter inspiring my musical choice here):

I chose for the second act a modern take on The Wives of Henry Vlll, An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson.

Kate Parker has just become wife number six to billionaire Hank Tudor, whose previous bride Kaitlyn Howard has gone missing and may be the headless body found on Tudor property.

Wanting to believe the best of her new husband, Kate teams up with Anna, former wife no. four, to find out what did really happen. Many secrets and lies abound, especially from first wife Catherine who barely leaves her house yet plots in vain for Hank to come back as her husband. Can the truth be told without Kate sharing the same deadly fate as her predecessor?

This book is particularly fun if you’re into the saga of the Tudor Queens as Olson definitely did her homework and then some(even minor players in the original history such as Jane Stafford and Margaret Pole pop up here).

 It’s an interesting blend of Wolf Hall meets Succession with a touch of Sx the Musical as one of  the most vibrant characters is Nan aka Anne Boleyn, who has been missing for years but her secret diary makes her an active participant indeed:

For the finale, I went with a last minute replacement (sorry Ruth Ware but I needed a shorter read!) that was quite a lovely surprise, Count My Lies by Sophie Stava.

This debut novel introduces us to Sloane, a lonely young woman who has to restart her life after a series of self delusional falsehoods land her in trouble.

A fateful meeting in a local park brings Sloane into a family life as the nanny to a seemingly perfect couple , Jay and Violet with their adorable daughter Harper. However, things are truly not what they seem in more ways than one. I shall say no more because it’s best to not be spoiled about the plot for full enjoyment.

This was a fun book that did keep me guessing; just when I thought it was going to zig one way, it zagged in a completely different direction! Stava is definitely a suspense writer worth keeping an eye on, that’s for sure.

Also, if and when they turn this story into a movie, Taylor Swift must be on the soundtrack as her music is a key character component here(maybe a Broadway musical version as well?):

Thanks again to Michelle Miller for another great excuse to read and I hope that rest of my readathon companions had as much page turning joy as I did here.

Already preparing for June’s Sci-Fi Summer(granted, I mainly choose fantasy but I do have a sci-fi adjacent pick this time around) along with the Tony Awards, which take place then. I don’t go to the theater but do love seeing the musical numbers on the show.

Also, I’m rooting for Death Becomes Her : The Musical which has ten nominations, including Best Actress (a double category for the two leading ladies!), Best Original Score and Best Direction. As a fan of the cult classic movie that starred Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis, I love this whole concept and hope it gets to take the bow that it deserves: