A film version of THE TEMPEST, William Shakespeare's final play, featuring the cream of Hollywood's aristocratic British Colony? When the project is announced in 1948, it sounds like an idea that can't miss. But then the whispers start about one of those British actors and a burlesque queen, and murder follows shortly. Enter Scott Elliott, top operative of Hollywood Security and the soon-to-be husband of the lovely Ella Englehart. To get to the altar, Elliott must dodge blonde bombshells and gangsters, and solve a mystery that echoes Shakespeare's crowning work.
In a Teapot
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Hollywood Security operative Scott Elliott, two days away from his wedding, accepts what seems like a simple assignment – discourage a romance between an actor and a burlesque star that may be detrimental to the filming of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In post-war Hollywood, The Tempest seems likely to be the last great swan song of a group of British Colonists, if their leading man can be separated from his 'farmer’s daughter.' As the cast of characters grows, so does the complexity of the case, echoing the Bard’s final work. Pitch perfect dialogue and descriptions of the era, nicely accented by pen and ink line drawings, make this a neat little treasure for fans of historical mysteries and Shakespeare alike."
Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy' The Plot Thickens
"The breezy, humorous crime novel is a sub-genre that flourished in the 1930s and ’40s, either influenced by or influencing the motion picture screwball comedies of the day. Authors like Craig Rice, Stuart Palmer and Harry Kurnitz, who also scribbled for the screen, fashioned entertaining whodunits where the talk was fast and smart, the males were unflappable, the females sexy and witty and the booze flowed like water. For a quick reminder of the lovely silliness and sheer entertainment of those freer and easier days, one need look no further than Terence Faherty's short novel In A Teapot.
"This new well-plotted mystery set in 1948 Hollywood finds the author's series hero Scott Elliott only a short time past a career shift from underemployed actor to in-demand private detective. On the eve of Elliott's marriage to script reader Ella Englehart, his boss at Hollywood Security tosses him a new assignment involving a young British actor, Forest Combs, who has just been cast in a film to be based on Shakespeare's final play, “The Tempest.”
"Faherty tosses in all the proper ingredients an extremely likeable sleuthing couple, a bloody corpse and a gallery of suspects, a little light-hearted, considerably less than R-rated sex, mobsters, funny patter and even a bit of unobtrusive historical info.
"It's all frothy good fun, and as Scott and Ella do their Nick and Nora thing, working their way though a labyrinth of lies and deceptions and hidden motives to find a killer before taking their vows, it's soon made clear that the author has been playing a literary game all the while, one that readers, even those unfamiliar with Shakespeare's play, will have to admit is monstrously clever."
Dick Lochte, OC Metro, 12/8/05
Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy' The Plot Thickens
"The breezy, humorous crime novel is a sub-genre that flourished in the 1930s and ’40s, either influenced by or influencing the motion picture screwball comedies of the day. Authors like Craig Rice, Stuart Palmer and Harry Kurnitz, who also scribbled for the screen, fashioned entertaining whodunits where the talk was fast and smart, the males were unflappable, the females sexy and witty and the booze flowed like water. For a quick reminder of the lovely silliness and sheer entertainment of those freer and easier days, one need look no further than Terence Faherty's short novel In A Teapot.
"This new well-plotted mystery set in 1948 Hollywood finds the author's series hero Scott Elliott only a short time past a career shift from underemployed actor to in-demand private detective. On the eve of Elliott's marriage to script reader Ella Englehart, his boss at Hollywood Security tosses him a new assignment involving a young British actor, Forest Combs, who has just been cast in a film to be based on Shakespeare's final play, “The Tempest.”
"Faherty tosses in all the proper ingredients an extremely likeable sleuthing couple, a bloody corpse and a gallery of suspects, a little light-hearted, considerably less than R-rated sex, mobsters, funny patter and even a bit of unobtrusive historical info.
"It's all frothy good fun, and as Scott and Ella do their Nick and Nora thing, working their way though a labyrinth of lies and deceptions and hidden motives to find a killer before taking their vows, it's soon made clear that the author has been playing a literary game all the while, one that readers, even those unfamiliar with Shakespeare's play, will have to admit is monstrously clever."
Dick Lochte, OC Metro, 12/8/05
About the Author
Terence Faherty's Scott Elliott series has been honored twice with the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus Award. His amateur sleuth series, featuring failed seminarian Owen Keane, has received two nominations for the Edgar Allen Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Faherty lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife Jan.
Before Robin Agnew sold mystery books, she was a mystery fan and a watercolor artist who sold her paintings at various summer art fairs. Her lifelong loves of art and mysteries are often combined when she has the opportunity to illustrate books for The Mystery Company; and she's able to read lots at Aunt Agatha's, her mystery bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Before Robin Agnew sold mystery books, she was a mystery fan and a watercolor artist who sold her paintings at various summer art fairs. Her lifelong loves of art and mysteries are often combined when she has the opportunity to illustrate books for The Mystery Company; and she's able to read lots at Aunt Agatha's, her mystery bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Small Gem,
By Pat Browning "Author of ABSINTHEOF MALICE" (Yukon, OK USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In a Teapot (Scott Elliott Mysteries) (Hardcover)
IN A TEAPOT is a small gem, a story of revenge carefully planned over a period of time. The writing is flawless, the story is short enough to read in an evening and long enough to satisfy. Faherty writes with humor and a light touch, murder notwithstanding.
The year is 1948. An independent producer wants to cast members of Hollywood's aging "British colony" in a movie version of Shakespeare's final play, "The Tempest." Names like Ronald Colman, Charles Laughton and Basil Rathbone are bandied about. So far, the only actor to sign a contract is Forrest Combs, who's dating a burlesque queen. The producer knows that the Brits won't sign if there's a hint of scandal. Unless Combs gives up the girl the movie won't happen. Enter Scott Elliott, a former actor now working for Paddy McGuire, president of the Hollywood Security Agency. Their specialty, as Scott observes, is pulling clients out of a jam. "Also hushing up, paying off, and leaning on." An example of Faherty's smooth and judicious use of language is this brief exchange when Paddy and Scott meet with Jeffries, the producer: QUOTE: "It may mean some money changing hands," Paddy observed. Jeffries took a pen from his pocket and wrote a figure on a damp cocktail napkin. I counted three zeros when he pushed it across to Paddy. "Promise her that much to forget she ever met Combs. And a second payment the day we finish shooting." Paddy tucked the napkin into his watch pocket. "Consider it done," he said. END QUOTE As Scott and Paddy drive away, Paddy says, "I smell a fish," and the story takes off.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
