Murder Take Two

The last place that Chief of Police Susan Wren expects to find herself is in the middle of a real-life soap opera. But when a Hollywood film crew comes to the small town of Hampstead, Kansas, there seems to be more drama off the stage than on it. On a film shoot one day, a fatal accident befalls stunt-double Kay Bender. A dead-ringer for the stunning screen star Laura Edwards, Kay may have been the unfortunate victim of a murderous plot to get rid of the much-disliked actress. As Susan investigates, she finds that almost everyone has a motive for wanting to sabotage the film or to kill Laura. The film is running far over budget, and the temperamental director appears to be a likely suspect. Susan also uncovers a steamy affair between Laura's boyfriend, narcissistic actor Nick Logan, and Laura's rival for the part, actress Sheri Lloyd, who makes no effort to conceal her dislike for the beautiful and talented star. To top it all off, Susan discovers that Parkhurst, her deputy, was once married to the now-famous actress. Susan must battle both her jealousy of Parkhurst and Laura's past relationship and her attraction to this darkly mysterious officer whose feelings she is unable to guess.

Charlene Weir lives in El Cerrito, California. Her first novel, The Winter's Widow, won the SMP/ Malice Domestic Contest for Best First Traditional Mystery in 1991.