The Opening Night Murders

An Impossible Crime Murder Mystery

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Pub Date 1 Jun 2019 | Archive Date 12 Nov 2019

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Description

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.

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...


Advance Praise

"A mesmerizing, intoxication performance. Byrnside may yet be the most exciting talent to emerge in the impossible crime novel in the 21st century." – theinvisibleevent.com

"[An] excellently positioned and executed impossible crime...in which every single aspect and detail of the story logically dovetailed together in the end." – moonlight-detective.blogspot.com

"It is a mystery told with reverence for the past without a slavish dependence on it, and with an astonishing sense of authority..." – ahsweetmysteryblog.wordpress.com

"The premise is clever, the solution imaginative and the characters, compelling." – mysteriesahoy.com

"A mesmerizing, intoxication performance. Byrnside may yet be the most exciting talent to emerge in the impossible crime novel in the 21st century." – theinvisibleevent.com

"[An] excellently...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781090792754
PRICE US$3.99 (USD)

Average rating from 14 members


Featured Reviews

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 !

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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