Deadly Triplets: A Theatre Mystery and Journal

by Adrienne Kennedy

A surrealistic intertwining of mystery and autobiography set in the theatre world of 1960s London by Obie-winning playwrite Adrienne Kennedy.

Genres: Fiction

140 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Aaron Thomas]

As a mystery story, I'm not sure this works very well. As a memoir in the vein of Kennedy's People Who Led to My Plays this is more successful. In fact, what this really is is a kind of additional chapter from that memoir. I wish the mystery part were more fleshed out and read a bit more like the Agatha Christie novels that inspired it because it shows intriguing potential.

[Drew]

Likely, there's a murder at the center of "Deadly Triplets" but who's been killed and who did the killing keeps changing so that you're left you feeling as though the world is full of assassins or maybe you're simply going mad. Far from frustrating, Kennedy's psychological portrait of a divorced playwright living large in London who's search for her could-be-dead mother are interrupted by pernicious intrigues between two lookalike brother-actors is nothing short of fascinating. An addendum compiling Kennedy's sketches of famous theater artists (Edward Albee, Laurence Olivier, Michael Weller) is also enjoyable if decidedly less ominous.

[Cat]

HORRIBLE. Just a hot mess and TOTALLY not a mystery. Just crap.