Murder in the Air

Sophie Greenway #4

by Ellen Hart

SERIAL MURDER

The yuletide revival of a vintage Twin Cities radio serial isn't just for fun--dealing as it does with the scandalous unsolved 1950s murder of beautiful Kay Collins. But an even deeper mystery intrigues radio personality Bram Baldric and his sleuthing wife, Sophie Why has the station's owner insisted on airing this particular case when her son--Kay Collins's two-timing lover--happened to have been the prime suspect in it? Merriment and mistletoe are out this Christmas; menace and murder are in.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 29, 1997

About the author

Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-eight crime novels in two different series. She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award in several categories, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. In 2010, Ellen received the GCLS Trailblazer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of lesbian literature. For the past fourteen years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Ellen's latest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required (Ballantine). Rest for the Wicked, the twentieth Jane Lawless mystery, will be released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in October 2012. Bella Books has recently revived the out-of-print books by publishing them in both trade paperback and E-book. Ellen lives in the Minneapolis area with her partner of over 35 years.

Reviews

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because I enjoy Ellen Hart's Jane Lawless series so much, I decided to try another Sophie Greenway mystery. I simply have not bonded with the protagonist and found the "cozy" nature of the Christmas mystery unsatisfactory. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Alton Motobu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man accused of murdering his girl friend 40 years earlier returns to find the real killer. Story is told as the plot of a radio serial in a Minneapolis radio station. Interesting complications as secrets come out, and a cast member is murdered. Climax - real murderer confesses, but he is not arrested and story ends suddenly as if it will be continued in another book.

[Tess Mertens-Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I am from MN, but I don't think you need to be from here to enjoy it. I liked how the author took an old 1950's radio show, and an old 1950's murder, and pulled them together with the modern day story.
The characters were very well fleshed out...as I was reading I waffled between 'who was the murder" almost the whole way through. What I thought was interesting was once the murder was solved, the story was not over. The was the author pulled the extraneous characters into the end to add to the story was excellent. I did not see the end coming...and I am a die hard mystery reader so it takes quite a bit to pull it over on me.
I would recommend this book to all mystery lovers!

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the premise of this mystery: falsely accused man on the run comes back to clear his name 40 years after some tragic events and lures out the real killer via an old-time radio show revival. I’m not sure if it’s because there were so many characters, or if it was the number of red herrings, but I sort of lost interest by the end of the book. You know who the real murderer is early on, so all that’s left to keep you engaged is will they get away with it again, or not. Ms. Hart does well with character development – so I was a little frustrated when folks just disappeared who were initially part of the story. Again, too many red herrings. This is the first mystery by Ms. Hart that I’ve read, and I will read more.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, especially since I'm a sucker for mixing an old murder with a new murder. Some pretty good twists at the end of the book that I wasn't expecting. The one thing about the ending that I didn't like was that it was too open for me, I would have liked to know what was going to happen to some of the characters.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Greenway ones are not as good as the Jane ones, but Hart manages soap-opera-esque character and situations in a way that is decidedly un-soap-opera-esque (to coin a phrase).

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie and her husband are very likeable.

[Miriam Holsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun - I didn't like it as much as I enjoy her Jane Lawless series but will try a few more to see if Sophie Greenway grows on me.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder redux in the airing of a radio drama. (Xmas cookie recipes a bonus given Ms Hartès culinary expertise.)