Description
On opening night at Wrenbridge’s restored Lyric Theatre, the audience hears the celebrated actor Jasper Bell deliver his final speech from behind a wall. Minutes later, he is found dead in his dressing room.
The performance seemed to prove that Jasper was alive when the curtain fell. Yet Nell Mercer, editor of the Wrenbridge Chronicle, and her photographer brother, Owen, know that a witnessed moment is not always what it appears. As Detective Mara Keene investigates, the siblings follow a trail through backstage passages, sound cues, old correspondence, and the troubled finances of a theatrical revival.
Jasper had returned to his hometown to bring Helena Sayer’s The House Beyond the Wall back to the stage. He had also begun asking questions about who benefited from its revival. With every new account, the apparent timeline grows less certain—and the distinction between a voice heard and a life witnessed becomes a matter of murder.
A measured, clue-driven whodunit for readers who enjoy small-town secrets, observant amateur sleuths, and mysteries that reward close attention.
