Shadows at Midnight

Cozy mystery lovers and Anglophiles will be delighted to hear that Jordan’s sixth outing featuring TV star–turned–amateur sleuth Polly Pepper (following A Corpse in the Castle) is his best comedic mystery yet. As Polly, her gay son Tim, and her domestic companion Tiara settle into their recently inherited castle in the rural village of Abbots Cover in England, their lives are about to be interrupted by murder. Polly is wangled into directing the village musical Cats on a Hot Tin Roof, an oddball (and illegal) conglomeration of Tennessee Williams and Andrew Lloyd Webber. With the unexpected arrival of Lester Lynch—the acerbic costume designer from her old TV show, known for a “mean streak so long it had pit stops”—Polly reluctantly agrees to let him stay at her castle while he writes his spiteful tell-all memoir. When Lester is murdered, Polly and her pals start looking for suspects. Soon, they’re dealing with hidden passageways, a psychic with a warning from the other side, buried secrets about past crimes, and a flatulent ghost dog.