Small Crime: Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens

This is the latest novel in Robin Stevens' "A Murder Most Unladylike" series, but we can expect the next instalment later this year, according to the author herself.

As the title intimates, this story takes place in the theatre world, more specifically the Rue Theatre in London, where Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have got small parts to play in a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It seems that their adventures in Hong Kong in the previous novel has led to them needing some rest before going back to school and thus Daisy's uncle Felix has sent them on to the Rue Theatre, where the owner is an old acquaintance of his wife's.

And since this is a mystery, you'll no doubt not be very surprised to hear that feelings run high among the cast and the staff. In the centre of this turmoil is the leading actress, Rose Tree. She has an antagonistic relationship with most of the others, and soon she is receiving threats and being pranked in more and more horrible ways.

And then finally, she is found dead in a well in the cellar of the theatre building. Since the lid has been replaced over the body, it is apparent that this must be murder. And as Daisy puts it: "Murder is always awful [...] which is why we must detect it."

Everyone has a motive and the young ladies need to apply their best detective skills to find the culprit. And not only that, they need to overcome all the difficulties that the adults put in their way.

So, this is the theatre mystery. I've spoken before on how Stevens seems determined to examine all the different GA tropes, and yes, we've not had a theatre mystery before. As such, it is quite a success. I think this might be the book in the series where I was most surprised by the denouement. Admittedly, when I think it over, I should have seen it coming, but I was just cruising along reading it, and then someone - Stevens - pulled the carpet out from under me.

In general, this novel resembles the others in the series. The girls make up their list of suspects and set out eliminating them one by one. Though there is a bit of a wrinkle, because Daisy is absolutely adamant that one of the suspects must absolutely not be suspected.

We also get to meet competing detectives George and Alexander again. They drop by towards the second half of the novel and help Hazel with some of her investigations, while Daisy is at home with the flu. I always like when George turns up - it's interesting to contrast him with Daisy. They are both brilliant, yet George is a less abrasive personality and probably more socially astute.

However, there is a bugaboo that I'll address here: the (over)representation of minorities in this novel. I know I'm the opposite of every minority out there: I'm white, male, middleaged, heterosexual and fairly affluent. So by all means, keep that in mind.

Among the characters in this book, we get two black actors among the cast, the director and the original leading man, and no less than five or six homosexuals. I just find it hard to see this as a novel taking place in the 1930s - to me it reads as a very modern story for modern readers transposed into a different age. Yeah, this is set in the theatre community, which would perhaps account for a higher percentage of minorities - though that may just be another prejudice of mine...

Sure, Stevens tries to ground all this in the 30s by referring to the illegality of homosexual acts, and also uses this for the plot - which is good! - but no matter, I just find it hard to see that a majority of the main characters in a story set in the 1930s would be gay.

Please don't misunderstand me. I didn't mind reading about this cast of characters at all - the thing I mind is that these charactes are placed in a story set in the 1930s. It just doesn't ring true. To Stevens' credit, she doesn't make a big production out of featuring minority characters. They just happen to be, and apart from using the illegality of homosexuality, nothing in the plot is affected by these characters' status. They're just there, and that's great.

So with that minor quibble out of the way, I must say that I would rate this novel very highly. I think Stevens is very assured of herself as a mystery writer by now. She creates a strong plot with misdirections that could compete with the best of them. She has a great team of characters that she manages to bring to life in a wonderful way. And the plot is really excellent, I cannot stress that enough.

I'd rate this on par with the previous "best in series", First Class Murder. That book had a better setting and a more interesting problem, but this one has the better plot. So, go and read it!

Now I'm just waiting for the next novel in the series...