Perish in July: A Doran Fairweather Mystery

The brutal murder of a despised amateur actress during a church group's production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta pitches appealing antiques dealer Doran Chelmarsh (nee Fairweather), last seen in The Ban der snatch , into another case, much to the displeasure of her old Scotland Yard enemy Chief Inspector Ogle. Doran and the parishioners are trying to raise money to save the tower of St. Leonard's at Elvesham, the church where her husband, Rodney, is now vicar in charge. Among the leads in the operetta are Rodney, a former lover of Doran's, and Paula French, whose decapitated body Doran finds in a prop chest. Suspects include several of the actors; Paula's cruelly dominated husband, Euan; and the director, with whom she had clashed. Feeling sorry for Euan, the Chelmarshes take him in; meanwhile, their marriage is threatened as Rodney falls in love with a friend of Doran's. Hardwick again writes about believable characters coping not only with murder and other disasters but with a true-to-life marriage. ( Sept.)