Speak Now: Married to Mystery (Paperback)

by Margaret Dumas (Author) "Okay, here's the stereotype: A woman will date a serial killer because he has cute eyes and she's the only one in the world who..." (more)
Key Phrases: roast speech, prop room, costume shop, Inspector Yahata, Tom Nelson, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Charley Van Leeuwen, confirmed commitment-phobic theater director, shocks her friends when she returns from London with a husband in tow. But Charley still wonders about his past-and before she can settle her post-wedding jitters, they find a dead woman in the bathroom of their hotel suite. After another tragedy strikes, Charley fears she herself might soon exit stage left.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Signet (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451216989
• ISBN-13: 978-0451216984
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #892,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful debut novel!, January 25, 2006

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Good mysteries are difficult to write well. Humorous mysteries are very rare. Margaret Dumas' debut novel is a funny, tender, romantic thrill ride.

Commitment-phobe, San Francisco heiress Charley Van Leeuwen married Jack Fairfax after a whirlwind courtship in London. When they arrive back in her hometown, they're met with a corpse in a bathtub in their suite at the Mark Hopkins.

As Charley tries to figure out who the body was--and why it was left for her (or Jack?), she also learns there is a lot she doesn't know about her new husband. Is he "just a weatherman" as he claims? Why did the Navy send him to predict weather in Oman? And most importantly, can he really cook?

The theater company Charley founded needs a hit show, and she is persuaded to direct their new play. But it's hard to fit in rehearsals between ransoming back her kidnapped cousin, following her meteorologist husband, and planning dinner party menus.

Both Charley and Jack are fully realized characters with chemistry so real, I expected the pages to be smoldering each time I picked up the book. The secondary characters are quirky but not cartoon-ish. The villain is plausible. My only quibble has to do with the dead body in the bath.

Any Miss Marple fan would know who it was much sooner than Charley did. But I forgive her for not figuring that out earlier, as she was pretty busy with her honeymoon and the play. Oh, and the kidnapping. And the disappearing theater staff.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a debut novel that promises great things to come. Just one question for author Margaret Dumas: When is Charley's next story coming out?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, funny mystery, September 14, 2006

By	Kalolu (Virginia) - See all my reviews

I really like reading funny books, and this one has some funny stuff in it. I've been looking for an author besides Janet Evanovich that I found to be funny, and Dumas is it. There's a character in the book named Flank--well, I won't ruin it for you, but there are some funny scenes with him. But it's not just funny, there's a good mystery going on too. I hope I will read more soon from this author.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much time devoted to the main character's diet., August 1, 2006

By	Katarzyna Razynska (Boston, Ma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I randomly picked this book up at the bookstore, because I was intrigued by the cover. The blurb offered mystery. There is no mystery in this novel. Though a murder is committed in the second or third chapter, it is sort of in the background of the story, and rather than trying to give clever hints as to who the murder might be, and pushing the mystery along the author decided to spend time discussing a play the main character directs. Not to mention that at least 3 paragraphs of each chapter are devoted to describing what Charley (the main character) and her rambunctious friends ate that day. The ending comes from nowhere. It's as though the author got tired of writing the story which was going nowhere and decided, "ok, time to end it". All in all the main character is annoying, and though I liked her husband, I did not find the relationship between them credible. If there is nothing else to read, and you want a fast read you really don't have to think about at all, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a mystery novel, I don't recommend this book.