Murder and a Muse

Annie McGrogan #2

by Gillian B. Farrell

Leaving the SAD Squad to take a part in what she thinks will be her big break, actress-sleuth Annie McGrogan finds her heart broken by the production's charismatic director, until a murder on the set reunites her with her ex-partner Sonny. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Detective

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this. The body took a long time to land, so long that I was wondering if it was a mystery at all, and the ending was... not what I would have gone with. Still, it was crisp, entertaining, mildly informative. You definitely get the sense that the author knew what she was talking about with the professional stuff. There may have been a few too many characters, and the pace of the investigation was awfully fast, nigh cursory. Things just kept happening one right after the other, but not in an edge-of-your-seat kind of way, just a little rushed. Still, I enjoyed it.

[Margo Allore · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is an Annie McGrogan book - sometime Private Investigator and sometime actress. She gets a part in a movie so puts her PI work on the back burner for now. She has been having this flirtatious "thing" (not an affair) with the Director, who is found dead. She is a suspect. She calls up her PI partner and starts investigating. I found the book had a lot of sterotypes of movie types, investigators. I continued reading to see "who done it" to the Director.

[Cheryl Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to follow.

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

MURDER AND A MUSE - NR
Farrell, Gillian B - 2nd in Annie McGrogan series

Annie McGrogan, divorced aspiring actress and part-time sleuth (Alibi for an Actress, 1992), seems to be on the verge of a career break when she lands a part in a movie directed by handsome, talented Alan DeLucca. Mohonk Mountain House, in upstate New York, is the movie's major site, and the production crew moves there- -casting director Fernando Howard; producer Mitchell DuBois; hunky star Choice Wardell; assistants Margo and Amy, along with DeLucca's (supposedly estranged) wife, two kids, nanny, and a host of others. Meantime, Annie, hopes for a romantic rendezvous with DeLucca. Instead, he's found dead in her room, and she becomes the prime suspect. With the help of her detective agency co-worker Sonny and a collective airing of alibis, motives, and dirty linen, Annie gets herself off the hook.

A terrible ending that no mystery author should use, particularly on their second book!

[SPOILER]

A mystery that is not a murder.

[Sanda Kateley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor ending.

[Delores Alger · Rating 1 out of 5]

skimmed