This is the eleventh book in the J.P. Beaumont homicide detective series. Beau learns that his runaway 18-year-old daughter is living on what seems to be a commune in Ashland, Oregon, and that she's about to get married to an actor in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He promptly heads down to Ashland where after a short while an old unsavory acquaintance of his is found murdered. Next a child pornography tape shows up. The child in the tape happens to be Tanya, the festival's biggest star: the woman playing Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet). Soon after another murder takes place, and all signs seem to point to Tanya. Beau and his attorney friend believe Tanya to be innocent, but discrepancies in her story begin to show up, making Beau change his mind. By the story's end we find that Tanya had only been a pawn and not the murderer, and that the murderer was a scorned ex-wife. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - revenge How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Pacific NW City? Yes Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Unusual forms of death - hanging - perforation--swords/knives - exploded into bits Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |