Murder Take Two [Hardcover]

Charlene Weir (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998

The last place that Chief of Police Susan Wren expects to find herself is in the middle of a real-life soap opera. But when a Hollywood film crew comes to the small town of Hampstead, Kansas, there seems to be more drama off the stage than on it. On a film shoot one day, a fatal accident befalls stunt-double Kay Bender. A dead-ringer for the stunning screen star Laura Edwards, Kay may have been the unfortunate victim of a murderous plot to get rid of the much-disliked actress. As Susan investigates, she finds that almost everyone has a motive for wanting to sabotage the film or to kill Laura. The film is running far over budget, and the temperamental director appears to be a likely suspect. Susan also uncovers a steamy affair between Laura's boyfriend, narcissistic actor Nick Logan, and Laura's rival for the part, actress Sheri Lloyd, who makes no effort to conceal her dislike for the beautiful and talented star. To top it all off, Susan discovers that Parkhurst, her deputy, was once married to the now-famous actress. Susan must battle both her jealousy of Parkhurst and Laura's past relationship and her attraction to this darkly mysterious officer whose feelings she is unable to guess.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When a movie crew commandeers the small town of Hampstead, Kans., the tiny police force is hard-pressed to guard the location sites. The death of a stunt woman?whose jump into a haystack fatally reveals a hidden pitchfork?adds significantly to the trouble for Hampstead's chief of police, Susan Wren, in her fourth appearance (Winter Widow). As Susan, a former San Francisco cop, becomes embroiled in the mercurial personalities involved in the production, she is surprised to learn that her most experienced officer (and love interest), Ben Pankhurst, was once married to Laura Edwards, the star of the picture. Taking him off the case, she must rely on her less trained deputy, Yancy, who has been providing security for the company. Learning that Laura has been receiving threatening notes, Susan wonders if the pitchfork was really meant for her. Further incidents complicate the case: the stuntwoman's boyfriend is pushed into the path of Yancy's car, an actress is stabbed. Yancy's forgetful mother becomes involved in the crimes, and then the young deputy himself is lured to a secluded spot, where he is stabbed and has his gun stolen. Although Weir adds a funny subplot about a skulking midnight artist who paints nudes on garbage cans, snippets of the killer's thoughts interspersed throughout blunt the suspense.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Weir won an Agatha Award for her first Susan Wren novel, Winter Widow (LJ 4/1/92). In this third outing, the former an Francisco cop, now police chief in Hampstead, Kansas, confronts murder on a movie set. Despite one too many coincidences?the lead's former husband is also on the Hampstead force?and some stock figures, there are plenty of red herrings and satisfying character and relationship building on the part of the cops. Recommended for larger collections.?Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181361
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181369
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,815,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery crackling with high-voltage tension and suspense, November 1, 1998

By 

Alex Matthews ([e-mail] (Oak Park, Il.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder Take Two (Hardcover)

Murder Take Two, by Charlene Weir, is the fourth in a series of high-voltage mysteries. Weir is a master of tight, clean prose; characters the reader can care about; and intricate, twisty plots. Susan Wren, a former San Francisco police officer, becomes police chief of Hampstead, KS, when her new husband, the former chief, is murdered. Initially Susan wants the post because she is driven to catch his killer. Now, three years later, she wonders what is keeping her in this small town where she is still the outsider. Realizing that one part of the answer is something she would prefer not to admit even to herself--her attraction to second in command Ben Parkhurst--she tries unsuccessfully to stamp out her interest in him. In Murder Take Two, a Hollywood film crew is on location in Hampstead. When a stunt double is killed, Susan learns that the movie's leading lady, the lovely Laura, was once married to Parkhurst. Susan orders him off the case, but with Laura begging him to protect her, he can't stay away. As Susan struggles with her jealousy and Parkhurst's insubordination, an appealing young officer, Yancie, follows a string of bizarre episodes to the book's explosive ending. This series has everything going for it: fascinating characters, a sense of place so real you find yourself slapping mosquitoes, and ingenuous, complex plots. Don't miss it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars otally enjoyable, February 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder Take Two (Hardcover)

For police chief Susan Wren, trouble started the day Hollywood decided to go on location to shoot a film in her small Kansas town, making her tiny force stretched to the max. However, Trouble with a capital T does not start until stuntwoman Kay Bender, a ringer for superstar Laura Edwards, is killed during a shoot.

During the initial inquiries, Susan learns that Laura has been the victim of several threatening notes. Susan also finds out that her current boy friend, police officer Ben Pankhurst, used to be Laura's spouse, disqualifying him from the case. As Susan digs deeper into the lives of the personalities involved, someone else is murdered. The police chief wonders if she can control her jealousy over Ben's former relationship and if Laura is the ultimate target of the killer.

The fourth Susan Wren mystery is an intriguing who-done-it because it brings much insight into the personal lives of the recurring cast. Though the interspersing of the killer's thoughts into the action seems to cause some inertia, MURDER TAKE TWO remains a well-written, often times humorous novel. Wren fans will have plenty to crow about as they soar like an eagle with Charlene Weir's latest book.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Begin reading this book early in the day when you have nothing else planned., July 20, 2009

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Murder Take Two (Hardcover)

I am a fan of this series and found this book one of the more engaging. I did not want to stop reading and ended up reading it in one day, even though I had other things I was supposed to be doing.

The plot involves a film being made in Hampstead, Kansas. Most of the story revolves around the members of the film crew and a local policeman who is providing on-site police presence. You need to suspend a fair amount of disbelief, but after all, this isn't a documentary about film-making (I suspect that a lot of this movie would have been filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood, not in a ruined mansion in the middle of Kansas). A stunt woman is killed fairly early on, but you don't know if she was the intended victim or the intended victim was the star she was doing the stunt for.

Although Police Chief Susan Wren is the main detective character in the other books in this series, the focus in this book is away from her. Another police character, a handsome young man, provides the central police character, although Susan and other members of the Hampstead police department are given supporting roles.

If I had any criticism, it's that I was fairly sure of the killer by about half-way through the book, but not really because of the clues -- more a process of eliminating other people. Besides, after you read a few hundred mysteries, as I have, you get to know how mystery authors think.

I recommend this series for those who like cozies -- the author does a great job of creating a small town in Kansas, believably. One of her trademarks (besides excellent descriptions that use a few carefully chosen words to paint a vivid picture) is her use of weather -- severe cold, thunderstorms, tornados, etc. In this book, the weather is severe heat -- and you can almost feel it as the characters suffer through this Kansas heat wave. I only have one more to read in the series, so I hope the author writes more soon.