Murder Offstage - A Posie Parker Mystery, Book 1

Not really sure why I picked this book up. Perhaps it is because the protagonist, Posie Parker, is a transposition of a great actress (Parker Posey, in case you couldn't figure that one out); or maybe it is because I've found myself growing fond of period murder mysteries; or possibly it is because I just can't get enough of female detectives, and this one caught my eye. Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad I did.

Murder Offstage, the first Posie Parker mystery, is set in 1921 London, and Posie is an aspiring detective that just isn't getting the business she thought she would. It seems her assistant, and somewhat-sleuthing partner, Len Irving, is keeping the agency afloat, and Posie would do just about anything to change that. As with any good detective novel, fate steps in and a mystery lands right in Posie's lap.  A long-time friend of her late brother is being accused of murder - a murder that Rufus claims is the fault of his girlfriend, who has mysteriously disappeared. But that's not all that disappeared! Posie (or "Nosy" as Rufus calls her) soon finds out that the murder isn't the only crime that was committed! It seems Rufus' family stole the Maharajah diamond many years ago, and Rufus was to insure and keep the diamond safe - only now, it's missing, right along with his girlfriend.

Author L.B. Hathaway creates a convoluted but engaging mystery with lots of twists and turns that keeps the readers guessing. The characters are as fun as they are varied - - Posie, Len, and Rufus, of course, but there's also Inspector Lovelace, who treats Posie with respect and does not mind her interference now and again; there's Inspector Oats, who is so full of himself and absolutely cannot stand Posie's involvement in any manner; there's Dolly Price, the cheerful, always helpful theater costumer; there's Babe, Posie and Len's secretary who is less than diligent about doing any actual work; and there's Mr. Minks - Posie's adorable little cat who wiggles his own way into the middle of this mixed-up mystery.

One would think with all of these characters, it would get confusing and overbearing, but Hathaway manages them all quite nicely. The characterization draws readers into each character, and while the actual villain may not be so much of a surprise, the connections, the mistaken identities, and the double-crosses all keep your mind turning, trying to figure out what's going to happen next. And what I love about these period mysteries is that there is none of the modern technology that allows for quick and easy access to information. Here, Posie and the Inspector are forced to wait days to received photographs and information from a foreign government about one of their suspects, and it helps build the suspense.

And the climax, when Posie gets kidnapped, and she must face off against the culprit - well, let's just say that Hathaway handles it nicely.  I was turning page after page, unable to put it down until I knew that Posie was safe and the culprit was caught... (or was he?).  This, plus the fantastic dialogue, makes the first Posie Parker mystery a huge success in my book, and I'm heading over to Amazon to buy the rest of the books in this series that have been published so far.  Highly recommend this series to any mystery-loving fans out there!

RATING:  10 bunches of bright yellow mimosa out of 10 for starting off a new mystery series with quite a bang and creating a new female sleuth that is easy to love!