Broken Strings

by Nancy Means Wright

When puppeteer Marion collapses during a performance, her friend Fay Hubbard promises to carry on. But Fay, a neighbor of Ruth Willmarth, already has her hands full with three demanding foster children. When an autopsy reveals that Marion had swallowed a dose of deadly crushed yew—and a friend finds her sister dangling from a rod like a marionette, a shocked Fay races after the villains. Mystery by Nancy Means Wright; originally published by Enigma/GMTA Publishing

Genres: Mystery, Amazon, Thriller

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2013

About the author

I'm the author of 18 books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, including 5 mystery novels from St. Martin's Press, 2 historical novels: Midnight Fires: a Mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft ('10)and the Nightmare ('11)from Perseverance Press.For those who don't know her, Wollstonecraft is the brilliant but rebellious and conflicted 18th century author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,and mother of Mary Shelley (think Frankenstein).
I've also published 2 mysteries for kids. The Pea Soup Poisonings, based on my own 4 kids'childhood shenanigans, won the '06 Agatha Award for Best Children's/YA Novel,and The Great Circus Train Robbery was a finalist. My latest mystery is Broken Strings, a spin-off from my St. Martin's Press novels with a puppeteer sleuth, and a novel, Walking up into the Wild for "tweens" (ages 10-14, set in 18th-century Vermont just before the end of the American Revolution. It's both suspenseful and romantic and based on family history. Not a mystery.
I've published poems and short fiction for Redbook, Seventeen, American Literary Review,Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and many literary journals and anthologies (Beacon Press, Ashland Poetry Press, Univ of Illinois Press, et al.).
A longtime actress & director,I'm a former Bread Loaf Scholar and Scholar for the Vermont Humanities Council. I live with my spouse and 2 Maine Coon cats in bucolic Middlebury, Vermont. "Becoming Mary Wollstonecraft" Facebook page.

Reviews

[Matthew Morgal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intrepid everyday heroine Fay Hubbard pursues the elusive Skull-Man, out to murder the puppeteer group for performing offbeat endings to popular children’s stories. Every time she gets close to finding the killer out, another twist or murder throws a wrench into the mystery. Hubbard also has three foster children and a beloved goat, but of course she doesn't mind putting them all at risk while she pursues a ruthless killer with her desire for truth and justice.

In other words, this is your bog standard murder mystery novel. The gimmick here is that puppets are involved! A puppet-sty;e killer *should* make for a (horrifyingly) cool mystery, but the magic of puppeteering is constantly muddled by a diverse, yet unnecessarily large ensemble cast competing for screen time. Wright clearly demonstrates the ability to write complex characters, a key formula in murder mysteries. Unfortunately, there are simply too many character strings attached to the intrepid detective.

I really wanted to like this book, and I saw a lot of great potential with the puppet mystery. But complex characters are not always interesting, and I struggled through to the end hoping for a satisfying twist that never occurred.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broken Strings kept me deliciously tangled until the end! This is such a fun mystery because there are so many unique characters in such an unique setting. I have always found marionettes to be creepy on their own, so to add the element of murder to them...bravo and yikes at the same time! Our protagonist, Faye is exactly the kind of sleuth I would be. Curiousity propels us both to look beneath the surface, even at what is foul, but that doesn't make us ghouls, surely! Story aside, I love how the author so effortlessly utilizes the tricky third person omniscient pov with all her characters, keeping us both distant and close at the same time. It adds an energy to the plot that keeps those pages turning. I love reading an author with a personal style, and Nancy Means Wright has got that and more. A dash of Atwood, and pinch of Christie, and a New England flair that means Vermont is on my next vacation list equals a five star mystery by this lovely author. I hope to meet Fay again soon...I need to know how she and Willard are progressing!

[Marley]

I really wanted to like this book and couldn't. I'm giving it 2 stars for effort. I love the idea of marionette murder, but creepiness soon turned in incredulity. Outside of Beets, Apple (whom we see little of), Chance, and Glenna, (I did find Cedric interesting but undeveloped) the characters have...well, no character. Where are their priorities? For a snoop, Fay certainly ignores or forgets or is too busy to even talk to people with information. In fact, I found Fay downright egotistical, narcissistic, and dense. She should read some elementary Nancy Drew.

Yes the end is twisty, but the execution of it is a mishmash of rabbit-in-the-hat tricks. In the last 40 pages or so I found myself confused and wondering if I'd missed something. I'm reading on Kindle. Did I skip a chapter? No, I didn't. Wright clearly has the ability to score a complicated, compelling mystery, but lost track of things somewhere. This is a perfect example of what happens when an author writes herself into a corner. Where was the editor?

[Nancy Hovan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to stop reading this book. It put me to sleep!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading this author

I didn't know what to expect being the first time. The book sounded interesting before I started it. I was quickly disappointed this story was hard to follow. Its about a puppeteer. It tells her story which is full of death and puppets. The story was confusing unless you really paid attention and even then. I found it hard to keep my interest and finish the book. I had to start it over twice.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, but was bothered because it seemed like a second (or third) book in a series. I try to avoid series books because I find it difficult to get hold of all the books in a series. I felt that I was missing some background in this story, so it had to be a part of a series. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Anyway, an interesting story even with the "missing" background.

[Mary Neikirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters

I found it hard to keep up with who was who.
Also it was difficult to track places. Read anyway.

[Judith Nasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Nancy Means Wright writes another page turner, a winner indeed. Just as the reader thinks she knows “whodunnit” another clue, distraction, or more grimly, another body pops up leaving sleuth Fay Hubbard all the more puzzled and determined to find her friend Marion’s killer.

Fay Hubbard is also a character in Wright’s Ruth Willmarth mystery series. In this book, Ruth is away on an extended honeymoon, so Fay not only takes on Ruth’s goats, but also her three foster children. As if that isn’t handful enough, Fay is also a puppeteer for Valentini Marionettes owned by her friend Marion Valentini who collapses at the end of a show, poisoned. Fay takes over the running of the show and, although a suspect herself, sets out to find Marion’s killer. She begins to find that all the circumstances and relationships around her are increasingly complex, a maze she has to ramble through as fast as she can in order to solve the murders.

Owing to Wright’s compelling prose and excellent plotting, the reader instantly becomes a part of Fay’s sleuthing and serious duties, sprinkled with great dollops of humor. This book, set in Vermont is as good as, if not better, than an English cozy.

[Jacqueline Seewald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Mean Wright is a writer with impressive credentials. Broken Strings is worthy of her reputation. We have here a murder mystery that engages the reader from the beginning. Fay Hubbard, failed actress and goat farmer extraordinaire, is a very busy woman. She also serves as a foster mother to three children: Chance, Apple and Beet. Perhaps Fay does this to compensate for a failed marriage which produced one estranged daughter and a distrustful grandson. Regardless, Fay is a sympathetic character who assumes the role of amateur sleuth when her friend Marion Valentini, a beautiful African-American puppeteer, collapses into a coma during a performance of Sleeping Beauty. An autopsy reveals that she has ingested deadly crushed yew. Apparently the yew tree provides an exotic poison. But this is only the first murder of women in the Valentini family. There are a number of colorful, interesting suspects. The characters in this novel are well developed. The Vermont setting is also well-presented. This is a strong mystery that readers will find enthralling.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broken Strings by Nancy Means Wright is great who dun it! Fay Hubbard has way too much on her plate, foster children, milk goats, goat cheese and an elderly aunt that they live with. Fay is in her fifties which doesn’t make it a wild sex every other page type book. It is focused on what happens after Fay promises to carry on the puppet show when Marion gets sick during a performance.

Nancy Means Wright has written 17 books for adults and children, so I will be checking them out. She is going on my find and read list of authors.

I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.

[Alena Gocnikova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to stop reading so many times

It felt very fuzzy, as if the characters moved through the story line in a haze they managed to shake off only once in a while. Whenever they did, I continued reading with renewed hope that maybe this time the story will pick up... And then it went back to fuzzy. Last few pages I finished only because I was curious to see the conclusion, and because I read fast enough to move through the haze before it enveloped me completely. I might give other books by this author a chance if I have nothing better to read.

[Randee Baty · Rating 2 out of 5]

43% in. This is a DNF for me. I struggled to get past the 40% mark but there is just nothing about the characters or the story line that I find appealing. The characters are not likeable to me nor is the story line intriguing. Judging from other reviews, there are some that really liked this so obviously YMMV but it's a complete miss for me.

I received a copy of this through the librarything EarlyReviewers program and this is my honest review.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a mishmash of characters all woven together in a uniquely written story. The author has an amazing talent for writing to the interest of the reader. She leaves you sometimes questioning things but then plays it out in a fashion that you can't imagine it any other way. I am hoping for sequels to this novel...and many other books by the author!

[Beverly Gray-Sellers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broken Strings - A different take on a plot

Broken Strings - A different take on a plot

I enjoyed this book. Through all the dysfunctional family issues it was great to read about people who have normal day-to-day situations and in the end still care about each other. There was a bit of romance, but nothing that was over the top, although there was murder and suspense. It was a quick read and left the reader wanting more.

[Dawn Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken Strings was very entertaining, with lots of twist. It was kind of slow moving, the reason for this is Nancy Means Wright jumped around a bit to much for me. With all the jumping around the story never really flowed. Yet Nancy keeps you guessing as to who did it. I enjoyed it. I made my prediction as to who killed Marion, I was not sure till the very end. This story keeps you wondering and it made me laugh also.

[Jeanne Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unforgetable

Unforgetable

this book with its crazy assortment of unlikely characters keeps pulling you back in even when you think you don't want to finish the book great mystery and amusing characters in a mystery storyline.

[Charlyna Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken strings

Broken strings

I enjoy broken strings, this was not what I had in mind when I read the title but, this book had lots of mystery. Who killed whom and why.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got about half way before I was bored and totally irritated by the 'sleuth Fay Hubbard'. Managed to read to the end but it was hard going.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good

[Jean DeBerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, light read for a murder mystery

this was a cute story, had a pretty diverse plot, and the characters were all interesting and unique in their own ways.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline but a little draggy in places.