Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT The Scarlet Wench by M.K. Graff @GraffMarni #bookreview

Today’s team review comes from Suraya, find her here http://www.thestorymint.com

Suraya chose to read and review The Scarlet Wench by M. K. Graff

Review by Suraya Dewing

The Scarlet Wench

By M.K. Graff

Sometimes a story lingers after you have read it. The Scarlet Wench did that for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the way M.K. Graff crafted her characters, especially Nora Tierney, the heroine of the novel and of the series.

She struggles against an impulse to get involved with investigating the unfolding mystery around a murder and other gruesome events that appear to target a cast of second-rate actors staying at Ramsey Lodge. Her friend Simon owns Ramsey Lodge and hopes to improve ailing finances by holding a performance of Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward.

She eventually gets her opportunity when the investigating officer Declan, with whom she is in love, agrees, somewhat reluctantly to her taking the role of Elvira in place of Gemma. Nora argues the only way to find out who is committing the crimes is to infiltrate the group.

Nora is thoroughly believable with her insecurities over Declan, her detective lover and concerns for the safety of Sean, her son.

The scenery descriptions were wonderful and I felt as though I walked around Lake Windermere with the characters as they pondered the mystery of who was murdering cast members and why.

The juxtaposition of events in the story with Blithe Spirit was an interesting technique in that it added colour and texture to what was essentially a mystery novel. It was also fun to rediscover one of my favourite plays. Graff cleverly weaves the two plots right down to the falling chandelier.

This is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com