Interesting idea. Not the best, not the worst.

Chicago. 1935. The Great Depression has brought America to its knees, and the people are dying for some entertainment.

Luckily for them, a murder has been scheduled for opening night at The Red Rising Theater. When the lead actress receives a death threat, Detective Rowan Manory and his partner Walter Williams agree to take the case. Neither realizes the curtain is rising on the deadliest and most vexing mystery of their career.

There will be 200 witnesses in the seats and not a single suspect on the stage. Could this be the perfect murder?

The Opening Night Murders is a thrilling impossible crime novel that will keep you guessing from the first clue right up to the shocking finale.

Entertaining Detective Yarn....
Chicago set, 1935, murder mystery theatre style. When the curtain rises for a performance the unsuspecting theatre goers are in for rather more than they bargained for. A good premise and an entertaining detective yarn. Whilst more could have been made of the characters and plot this was an enjoyable read.

I had several issues with this book. First, it was very slow in developing. I think this was because of the time frame (1935), the characters were very 2 dimensional (maybe because of 1935), it tried to be too old - I mean trying to be as if it had been written in 1935. The mystery wasn't hard to figure out.

I thought it would be more entertaining being set in a theater, but no.
Wouldn't recommend and don't plan to try another by this author.

I was drawn to this book because of the fact it was set in 1935 and I grew up reading Poirot and the like. Whilst this story bears no relation to the Belgian sleuth in anyway, it was just as good. This book did not disappoint and I was kept guessing till the end, I will now be reading other titles by this author, it was brilliant.

Set in the 1930s, this mystery is full of intrigue, with many twist and turns in the classical style. It was I book that I could not put down, set in Chicago it is very typical of its time and place. To tell you more of the plot will spoil the experience, lovers of stories set in the 30s in America will love this book. I will certainly look out for this author earlier book "Goodnight Irene" and any that follow.

The Opening Night Murders is the second book featuring Rowan Manory and his partner. Released 1st June 2019 by author James Scott Byrnside, it's 278 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a modern period mystery set in 1935 in Chicago. It has a distinctly 'pulp' vibe and a pretty solid (if ever so slightly hackneyed) plot-line. The dialogue and banter betwen Manory and his sidekick Walter is snappy. The secondary characters function more as plot movers and window dressing, but overall, the whole is eminently readable and entertaining.
The payoff is twisty but fans of Black Mask and sister pulp magazines will have likely solved the major points before then.

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers; this title is available in the KU subscription to borrow and download for free.

I would recommend this one to fans of pulp/noir - it's always fun to find a new (to me) author to follow.
Four stars.

Chicago. 1935 A new play is about to be enacted at The Red Rising Theatre, but the leading actress Lisa Pluviam has received a death threat, saying that she will die on opening night. She engages private detectives Rowan Manory and Walter Williams to investigate. But events get more complicated than they thought.
A well-plotted, and well-written mystery which I enjoyed. It kept my interest right to the end.

1935 Chicago, an actress visits Rowan Manory and his partner with cut-out-of-newspaper death threat. The play goes on and she does, indeed, die - in front of a whole audience as well as our detectives, and the rest of the cast. Rowan and Walter take on the case and we are lead through actors, relatives, loved/hates, old passions and new before the case is solved. Well written in an Edward G Robinson style - short, staccato sentences apparently typical of the period. To be fair I didn't like the characters much at all but they felt appropriate and the plot was well thought out. Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a mystery set in the early 20th century. The plot reminded me of a classic style mystery, but the execution was more semi-hard boiled. The detective duo didn’t really endear themselves to me, although their back and forth banter was one of the better aspects of the story. I found that the book really just limped along which was a bit of a disappointment since I found the book description quite interesting. The ending was not at all what I would have guessed, and I thought it was a bit unusual.

It's opening night at the Red Rising Theater in 1935 Chicago. The lead actress has received a death threat and asks Detective Rowan Manory and his partner Walter Williams to protect her. Despite their attempts at protecting her, though, 200 people witness her murder.
The detectives are initially stumped. Could this be the perfect murder?
Fortunately, Manory and Williams soon begin unraveling the clues. The result is a thrilling crime novel that keeps readers guessing. I know I didn't see the plot twists coming and squealed out loud several times as I read.
While the mystery is exciting, I didn't prefer the language. The writing is good, though, and the author does a good job of tying up the loose ends in a unique way. Overall, this is a good mystery.

There were several plus points to this impossible crime novel set in a Chicago theatre in 1935. The characterisation is strong and the setting vivid, with a real flavour of the times. However I thought it rather wordy and long-winded and I found myself losing concentration as the plot lines got somewhat lost in the conversations of the detectives and suspects.

In some ways it was unfortunate that I recently read Helen McCloy’s 1942 mystery “Cue for Murder” which also has a theatrical background.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the digital review copy.

America is in a depression and entertainment is the only way ordinary people can add a bit of light to their lives.

The pair of detectives in this book are supposed to be complementary to each other. Apart from their work there is a thread of deep friendship between the two apparent in a matter of fact way. There is a good mystery here, with a lot of historical fiction detail along with the colorful background which goes with theatre.

Reminscent of an Agatha Christie this was a good mystery detective story.

A well written and engrossing historical mystery that kept me guessing till the end.
I appreciated the well researched historical background, the cast of characters and the solid mystery.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This "vintage" read (1935 plotline) had me realizing how much technology has grown in the past 35 years.

Detective Rowan Manory and his assistant Walter Williams are brought into a possible murder case of a famous theatrical figure of the era, Lisa Pluviam. She has received a threatening letter (with magazine cut-out letters), "...on opening night you will die". She hires Rowan's agency to both bodyguard her and watch her co-workers on that night. They agree and yet the strangest thing happens...

I almost gave out a spoiler... This story is so rare that you are gripped from the beginning. I have never read anything else by this author, but I intend to.

Excellent recall of the early part of last century that probably took a pile of research. 1935 was between the world wars and the close research was worth it! Throughout the entire book the reader continues to wonder about each characters' innocence/guilt.

Recommend! Many Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for a great, different type of, read !