Michael Raine

Song & Dance and Played Out Michael Raine

These three murder mysteries deal, as the titles suggest, with the world of opera, ballet, and drama, where not only artistic reputations can be murdered. Two of the novellas re-introduce the character of Detective Superintendent Ralph Hurstbourne, assisted by his wife Lady Letty, who just can't help getting involved. As usual, Hurstbourne's method is to find motives for murder to point to his suspects-- not always easy to determine. The characters are richly eccentric and theatrical as you would expect when dealing with people whose whole life is steeped in fantasy rather than reality.