P.M. Carlson taught psychology and
statistics at Cornell University before deciding that mystery writing was more
fun. She has published twelve mystery novels and over a dozen short
stories. Her novels have been nominated for an Edgar Award, a Macavity Award,
and twice for Anthony Awards. Two short stories were finalists for Agatha
Awards. She edited the Mystery Writers Annual for Mystery Writers of America
for several years, and served as president of Sisters in Crime.
Audition
for Murder
Blurb:
Actors Nick and Lisette O’Connor need a change. They leave New York City for a semester as artists-in-residence at a college upstate, where they take on the roles of Claudius and Ophelia, two of the professional leads in a campus production of Hamlet. Threats and accidents begin to follow Lisette, and Nick worries it might be more than just petty jealousy. Maggie Ryan, a student running lights for the show, helps investigate a mystery steeped in the turmoil of 1967 America.
Excerpt:
New
York City, late 1960’s.
Nick O’Connor put down the telephone, his broad, muscular
body sagging a little. So she hadn’t
been merely tired. Hell. He changed to worn jeans and his old leather
jacket, and made a mean face at the mirror.
Nick the hustler tonight. Man of
a thousand faces, said his agent, and every one of them homely. A regular one-man Dickens novel. Nick headed out for the West Forties.
The snow was not sticking much. It made the sidewalks shine darkly, splashed
with gold and rose and white reflections from bars and street lamps, and pasted
down scraps of paper that otherwise would be scuttling across the streets in
the bitter wind. His way led past
whores, pushers, tired old men huddled over warm grates. Without a hurt, the heart is hollow. No hollow hearts on this street.
Franklin’s place was halfway down
the block. A worn brass door handle,
chipped paint. Nick wiped a few
snowflakes from his thinning hair and pushed through the crowd to the end of
the bar. In a moment the bartender,
black, with a trim mustache, had worked his way down to him.
“Hey, man, where ya been?”
“Is she here, Franklin?”
“Been here for hours.”
“Yeah, I was working tonight. I just heard.”
“She said she got fired.”
“Hey, we can’t all be self-employed
minority success stories.”
Franklin chuckled. “You watch your honky mouth.” He went off to break up a loud argument about
whether or not the Vietcong were winning, served a whisky, and returned to Nick.
“Room 6B,” he said.
13 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
It's great to be featured on your site-- thanks!
Nice writing style P.M.; I love your use of description.
ilookfamous at yahoo dot com
Thanks Elise-Maria! AUDITION FOR MURDER is about staging a play so I thought it was important to get the settings right :)
This premise sounds so fun!
vitajex(at)Aol(dot)com
This really sounds like an exciting and fun story.
Thanks, MomJane. I loved stage managing and running lights, even back in the non-computerized Vietnam days when AUDITION FOR MURDER takes place. But human love and hate, anger and friendship, don't seem much different today!
Thanks for hosting today!
Most mysteries take you right to the edge of fear and back! Not as terrifying as horror, but a good rise none-the-less!
andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Great excerpt, thank you.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks, Rita! Andra Lyn, I agree, horror books go all-out to terrify readers. I like "right to the edge of fear and back" partly because logic is also important in mysteries, solving the puzzles.
Thanks, Rita! Andra Lyn, I agree, horror books go all-out to terrify readers. I like "right to the edge of fear and back" partly because logic is also important in mysteries, solving the puzzles.
I always love the twists & turns, the suspense.
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