Murder in the Second Row (32 page)

To all those
who toil tirelessly in theatres everywhere, especially the past and
present members of Nelson Repertory Theatre Inc. and the Theatre
Royal Trust. I’ve borrowed many of your finer attributes for the
most likeable characters in this book. The nasty ones are of course
entirely fictional. (And remember, I had to save some good
characters for future books.) The story is made up but the setting
is the real old Theatre Royal just as she was before the latest
refurbishments, with all her quirky little nooks and crannies.

Special thanks
are due to my old colleague Phil for advice on police procedures,
and to Ken for some of the technical theatre stuff. Any
inaccuracies are entirely your fault and have nothing to do with
me, right?

To the members
of the Michael King Writers Centre writing group, thanks for
putting up with the monthly instalments of the manuscript; your
support was invaluable.

What’s that
darling? Yes, of course you’re getting a mention.

Long live the
Theatre Royal!

***

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Look out for
these books

Body on the Stage
(the next theatre mystery).

Dennis Dempster
is fat, lonely, and dissatisfied with his life, but things are
about to change. He joins a theatre group that’s staging a
production of Ladies Night, full of male strippers, muscles and
buff bodies. Suddenly fitness becomes a new option. In the course
of his transformation he finds new friends, new purpose and a new
love. And then he finds a dead body.

Join your
favourite characters back in the Regent Theatre with this second
story in the Theatre Mystery series. Jessica and Gazza are on hand
to guide newcomer Dennis Dempster around the theatre, but he’s in
even more foreign territory when he gets to the gym. Lucky he has
Cathy, the gym owner, on hand to look after him.

Sunstrike
(post-apocalyptic crime)

Sunstrike
follows the life of Averie, an ordinary woman in suburbia, when
solar flares destroy the world's electricity supply. As society
comes to terms with the loss of transport, communications, and food
supplies, Averie picks up some useful survival tips and a teenage
companion who is not what he seems. With no outside help, she is
forced to investigate a number of suspicious deaths using old
methods of detection.

Sunstrike: The
Journey Home
(post-apocalyptic adventure)

Bradley Brown
knows how to make the most of life. At 22, he is living the dream
working as a dive instructor at a luxury resort in Bali. But his
carefree lifestyle ends when the island’s electricity goes dead.
After several days it becomes apparent this is no ordinary power
outage. A massive solar storm has wiped out electrical technology
across the globe, leaving Bradley stranded a very long way from
home.

His thoughts
turn to his widowed mother back in New Zealand. Completely out of
contact and worried she may need his help, he sets off on a long
and difficult journey using any means of transport available. The
world is different now; he faces unexpected dangers and treachery,
growing up a little more with each new setback.

Will Bradley
make it across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, and will he be ready
for what he finds when he gets home?

Eye for an
Eye
(light thriller)

It’s a long way
from her home on a quiet farm in the Marlborough Sounds to the
bustle of downtown Toronto, but Robyn Taylor is a fearless and
practical woman who can turn her hand to anything, including some
very inventive punishments when necessary. When she discovers that
Colwyn Symons has defrauded her family of thousands of dollars,
leading to her father’s death, she has to take action. His
enjoyment of the high-rolling lifestyle in the big city will come
to an abrupt end if she can only get her hands on him.

Mike Kent, a
Canadian insurance investigator, persuades Robyn to help gather
evidence that will put an end to Colwyn’s continuing frauds, but
both of them underestimate Colwyn’s cold-blooded greed. When she
faces kidnapping and attempted murder, Robyn’s survival skills are
severely tested.

A Reassuring Guide
to Self Publishing
(non-fiction)

A basic
beginner’s guide to getting your own books on line and in print.
An-easy-to-read step by step guide to the process I’ve been
handling for clients for the last five years.

If you have
ideas for the next theatre story, do subscribe to my newsletter at
this link
http://eepurl.com/baLhIb
and
let me know. Sarah Taylor has suggested
Little Shop of
Horrors
for the next show to use and I’m currently having fun
tinkering with plot and characters. That big plant is going to be
SO mean!