Crime and the theatre in Minneapolis! Very enjoyable plot, location and cast of characters. A cozy afternoon read. Jane Lawless solves the mystery, helped as usual by Cordelia Thorn. Since this is a mystery in a theatre, there are a lot of larger than life characters here. ( )

Third in the Jane Lawless, lesbian restaurateur mystery series set in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. When a prominent local theatre actor, Torald Werness, dies impaled on the fork of one of the stage props, Jane is put into the thick of things because not only was she in the theatre at the time, but the dead guy is who she suspects attempted to burgle her garage a couple of days previously. One of Jane’s houseguests is most likely his nephew, which is just now coming to light, and Torald was looking for proof in some papers that were stored by the young man in the garage. Inspector Trevelyan once again pursues Jane as a possible suspect so Jane must solve the crime to clear herself. I’m enjoying this series more as I read on in it—the characters are fleshing out a bit, though there is still room for improvement there, as there is with the plotting—I figured out most of the mystery fairly early on, and had to wait ages for everyone else to catch up with me. One thing I do love is the local setting—since Hart is a local author, she does that part very well and captures the spirit of the area flawlessly. Looking forward to the next in series! ( )