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The Bloody Man: A Jean-Claude Keyes Mystery
NOMINATED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA ARTHUR ELLIS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL.
"A clever and thoroughly entertaining murder in five acts that will appeal to mystery and theatre fans alike. A wonderful performance."? Halifax Daily News
"A bloody entertaining concoction with a sly sense of fun."? Books in Canada
"A whimsical mystery diversion that provides a gentle portrayal of Stratford, its environs, ambience and theatrical denizens."? The Toronto Star
"A clever and thoroughly entertaining murder in five acts that will appeal to mystery and theatre fans alike. A wonderful performance."? Halifax Daily News
"A bloody entertaining concoction with a sly sense of fun."? Books in Canada
"A whimsical mystery diversion that provides a gentle portrayal of Stratford, its environs, ambience and theatrical denizens."? The Toronto Star
216 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2020
A fun read, for me as a Stratford resident and Stratford Festival devotee. I'm not much for mystery stories and bought this because of the Stratford connection, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was mainly watching for mentions of familiar places : )
August 5, 2023
For anyone who loves The Stratford Festival in Ontario, this this the book to read. You’ll recognize the town and the actors you wish you knew.
June 20, 2009
Life imitates art: a former Stratford stage actor writes a book about a former Stratford stage actor writing a book. But more than that, life in the story imitates life on the stage, in "The Bloody Man," a murder mystery with a sense of the dramatic.
Near the end of the season at the Festival, actor turned writer Jean-Claude Keyes returns to Stratford to finish the last draft of a biography of his friend and still actor, Seamus O'Reilly. In becoming re-aquainted with the theatre scene, Keyes learns of a much-reviled upstart actor who is at the centre of many controversies in the company. Within days, the hated Alan Wales is murdered, the police haven't a clue, and no one will talk.
It is up to the intrepid, objective Keyes to solve the mystery, although a detective he is not. Like the Twin Peaks detectives, he is more likely to trust intuition, dreams, or comparisons to art and drama than bother looking for clues: "Keyes had no idea...how to voice his suspicions, which admittedly had their roots only in slim circumstance, dreams, and guesswork." He is a refreshingly different, neurotic, and impractical detective, who would rather walk around the lake--looking at swans, dealing with his feelings, gaining various impressions from symbolic events, making connections based on Shakespearean plots--than detect.
The book provides us with a fabulous insider's look at life in Stratford, with all its intrigue and banality, genuflection and bitchiness, posture and posturing. I loved being able to picture all the bars, shops, and locations near the festival that the book describes, and I'll never think of them in quite the same way again. It can only add to the growing mythology of the legendary theatre town.
Bevan Amberhill is a talented writer more than a hatcher of mystery plots, with a great feel for both character and description. The book reads more like a "novel" than a "Midnight Original Murder Mystery", as it is billed. It is structured like a play, with a prologue and five acts which are divided into "scenes", which perfectly reflects the world it describes. The book begins and ends with playscript dialogue, and the mystery "solution" is hardly a classic denouement to a detective's efforts.
Lavishly festooned with literary allusions and Shakespearean quotes, roles, and action, "The Bloody Man" is less about a mystery than it is about the magic of theatre life and a love for Stratford town and its own characters and scenes.
Near the end of the season at the Festival, actor turned writer Jean-Claude Keyes returns to Stratford to finish the last draft of a biography of his friend and still actor, Seamus O'Reilly. In becoming re-aquainted with the theatre scene, Keyes learns of a much-reviled upstart actor who is at the centre of many controversies in the company. Within days, the hated Alan Wales is murdered, the police haven't a clue, and no one will talk.
It is up to the intrepid, objective Keyes to solve the mystery, although a detective he is not. Like the Twin Peaks detectives, he is more likely to trust intuition, dreams, or comparisons to art and drama than bother looking for clues: "Keyes had no idea...how to voice his suspicions, which admittedly had their roots only in slim circumstance, dreams, and guesswork." He is a refreshingly different, neurotic, and impractical detective, who would rather walk around the lake--looking at swans, dealing with his feelings, gaining various impressions from symbolic events, making connections based on Shakespearean plots--than detect.
The book provides us with a fabulous insider's look at life in Stratford, with all its intrigue and banality, genuflection and bitchiness, posture and posturing. I loved being able to picture all the bars, shops, and locations near the festival that the book describes, and I'll never think of them in quite the same way again. It can only add to the growing mythology of the legendary theatre town.
Bevan Amberhill is a talented writer more than a hatcher of mystery plots, with a great feel for both character and description. The book reads more like a "novel" than a "Midnight Original Murder Mystery", as it is billed. It is structured like a play, with a prologue and five acts which are divided into "scenes", which perfectly reflects the world it describes. The book begins and ends with playscript dialogue, and the mystery "solution" is hardly a classic denouement to a detective's efforts.
Lavishly festooned with literary allusions and Shakespearean quotes, roles, and action, "The Bloody Man" is less about a mystery than it is about the magic of theatre life and a love for Stratford town and its own characters and scenes.
April 18, 2014
This is a murder mystery that takes place at Stratford at Avon in Canada at a Shakespear Theatre. I wish I knew more about Shakespear's characters before I read this book. What I did know helped me understand it better. The ending is not surprising in some aspects, but in very surprising too. The plot is not fast moving and surprisingly it does not involve the police.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews