Shooting for fame could end your career ... and your life. A sparkling mystery from a stylish new voice in crime fiction, in a book that will delight fans of Richard Osman and Kerry Greenwood.
TV researcher Poppy McGowan has never sought the spotlight and is none too happy to be photographed with rock god Nathan Castle. When the photo pops up on celebrity gossip sites, it sparks a media feeding frenzy, forcing Poppy to go to ground, don a wig, and pull some nifty moves to escape a tailing car. And she cops abuse from Nathan's outraged fans. None of this would have happened if Poppy had not found Nathan's mother Daisy, one-time glamour girl and elderly best friend of her Aunty Mary, bleeding and unconscious in her bathroom. The police dismiss the case as an accident, but Poppy is sure there are questions to be answered. Who attacked Daisy, and why? Will she come out of her coma? What secrets are her gathering family hiding? What happens to Daisy's money if she dies? When a murder occurs outside Daisy's flat, the police step in at last. Unfortunately, they finger Poppy's boyfriend, Tol, for the crime - after all, he had bad blood with the victim. As Daisy's money-hungry family circle, amid hints of poisoning, bribery and blackmail, Poppy must find a way to clear Tol's name and ensure Daisy's safety.
A rollicking cosy mystery set in Sydney
An A-List for Death is the rollicking second instalment in Aussie author Pamela Hart's cosy mystery series featuring television researcher - turned amateur sleuth Poppy McGowan.
Poppy has temporarily moved into her great-aunt Mary's plush retirement village apartment, to act as her carer after knee surgery. No sooner has she arrived than Poppy discovers her aunt's glamorous best friend, 60s "It Girl" Daisy, collapsed and barely alive in her own apartment's bathroom. Daisy has a nasty head wound, and Aunt Mary is convinced that this was no accidental fall, instead that someone has assaulted Daisy and left her for dead.
Poppy's already frantic life becomes a maelstrom after she's photographed with Daisy's famous pop musician son, Jonathan by wannabe paparazza Esmerelda, sending the local gossip magazines into overdrive.
When Poppy discovers Esmerelda's body, murdered inside Aunt Mary's retirement complex with her camera's SD card smashed nearby, it becomes clear that there's a vicious killer on the loose. But who could want elderly Daisy dead, and what might Esmerelda have seen and photographed that she shouldn't have?
An A-List for Death is a fitting follow-up to 2021's popular Digging Up Dirt. Despite the rather violent actual and attempted murders, the mood is light and frequently humorous. There's an intriguing cast of potential suspects, some sympathetic, others considerably less so. The setting is evocative of Sydney in late spring, with several real-life locations depicted and their architecture subjected to Hart's critical eye.
I found An A-List for Death a quick and enjoyable read, and believe it would appeal to readers who enjoy mystery novels in the ilk of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series and M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.
Sarah, 01/06/2022
