Scott Lyerly’s debut mystery, The Last Line, is set in the world of community theater. It’s not unusual for a body in such a mystery to be a disliked cast member. What is unusual, and what you’ll remember, is the owner of the theater, Ellie Marlowe, the amateur sleuth who has Tourette syndrome.
“Murder in a Teacup”, the latest production at the Kaleidoscope Theater in Avalon, Massachusetts, might just save Ellie from financial ruin. Tickets are selling fast. Unfortunately, the cast and crew has to put up with the leading man, Reginald Thornton IV, who is making everyone miserable. He has a way of picking on everyone’s biggest weakness, even Ellie with her tics and grunts. No one grieves when Thornton dies on stage in the final scene on opening night. But, when she realizes he actually is dead, Ellie is terrified she could lose everything.
The Massachusetts state police write the death off as a heart attack, but it doesn’t feel right to the local police chief, Bill Starlin. He and Ellie have been friends since childhood, and they find a way to start their own investigation. It won’t be easy, and it’s additional stress Ellie doesn’t need. It can only make her Tourette syndrome symptoms worse. But, she needs to find the truth.
I read two mysteries in a row set in the world of community theater. They both feature amateur sleuths investigating the death of an obnoxious leading man. Fortunately, the sleuths and the solutions were both dissimilar. Lyerly’s notes say he wanted to introduce a character who lives with Tourette syndrome, not the character seen on so many television shows. Ellie Marlowe can break your heart at times, but she’s determined to be a survivor. And, an amateur sleuth.
Scott Lyerly’s website is https://scottclyerly.com/
The Last Line by Scott Lyerly. Crooked Lane Books, 2024. ISBN 9781639108213 (hardcover), 320p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley in order to review the book for a journal.
Interesting. Minette Walters has also written a mystery about someone with Tourette Syndrome called THE SHAPE OF SNAKES. I thought it was a very good book (I think I’ve read all Walters’s mysteries), but it definitely isn’t a cozy!
Kim, The author of this book has Tourette’s, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about. And, that’s what he says in his author’s notes, that there’s usually only one way of presenting it, and he wanted to present it as he deals with it.