Dead on Cue: A Reverend Nick Lawrence Mystery

Cozy fans will welcome the pseudonymous Lake’s second whodunit set in the quiet Sussex village of Lakehurst (after 2010’s The Mills of God). When the director of a local theatrical production—a sound and light show depicting the history of landmark Fulke Castle—suddenly dies, a replacement appears in the form of a flamboyant African-American film actor, Gerry Harlington, best known for portraying a Hollywood superhero called Wasp Man. Harlington, who has recently moved to Lakehurst with his megawealthy Russian wife, offers ideas for jazzing up the drama—like inserting a hip-hop dance into an Elizabethan fair scene—that grate on those under his direction. A murder on opening night prompts clergyman Nick Lawrence, a participant in the show, once again to apply his skills as an amateur sleuth. Insp. Dominic Tennant, the requisite sympathetic member of the force, lends a hand. Brisk prose and vivid portraits of the villagers more than compensate for the rushed and somewhat lame resolution. (Mar.)