View source for Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries - Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas

{{infobox1
|title=Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries - Death at the Dress Rehearsal
|author=Stuart Douglas
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=Crime
|summary=This is a lighthearted, cosy crime with a huge range of characters, a twisty-turny plot, all bound up in a 1970's sitcom setting.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=400
|publisher=Titan Books
|date=June 2024
|isbn=9781803368207
|website=https://titanbooks.com/creators/stuart-douglas/
|cover=1803368209
|aznuk=1803368209
|aznus=1803368209
}}

During location filming for his 1970's sitcom 'Floggit and Leggit', leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the dead body of a woman on the edge of a reservoir.  The police seem happy to assign it as an accidental death, but something about the whole thing bothers Lowe, and he enlists the help of a fellow actor, John Le Breton to help him investigate matters further.  They travel across the country during their days off filming, uncovering more possible murders and, seemingly, a link to death during the Second World War.  But is there really a link between the deaths?  And will they manage to uncover who is responsible before more people lose their lives?

When I first started reading this book, I had somehow missed that it was set in the 70's, so I did have a moment of 'what on earth is going on?!' to begin with!  But I soon found my feet and stopped wondering why people weren't just Googling things.  And it doesn't take much to imagine yourself back in a time of ''Dad's Army'' to give yourself the sense of the sort of men starring in this show.  Lowe and Le Breton are an unlikely investigative duo.  They sort of put up with each other, or not, as the story goes along rather than being friends, although by the end there is a grudging relationship of sorts.  I wasn't entirely sure I liked either of them particularly, but I did enjoy their disorganised detective-ing and I was flipping the pages fairly fast during moments of peril to see how things were going to turn out!

The reason I've nudged my review to 3.5 stars, rather than 4, is because I did feel it ran a little long.  For the most part, the pace is pretty good, but there was a point about two thirds in when I just felt I was flagging a little as I read.  And there really is a ''lot'' of story in here.  So much so that it can be tricky to keep everyone lined up in your head as you read, and especially because parts of the story relate to the war, but other parts relate to what's happening at the time the book is set, and some people feature in both eras, and others don't.  So trying to keep track can be tricky.  It is also loaded with twists and turns.  If you don't mind having absolutely no chance of figuring out whodunnit, and are happy to be taken along for the ride, then you'll certainly enjoy this!  I tend towards wanting to feel myself a little bit clever as a reader, so I did feel a little grumpy when the final, final reveal happened because I'd had no clue whatsoever about what was coming!

The characters are well drawn throughout the story.  Heavily weighted towards male characters, on the whole (because mostly the women are dead!) but I suppose it is set in the 1970's!  I was rather hoping there might be a sensible female sergeant who would come along and shake the police apathy up a bit, but no, we must rely on our ageing male sitcom stars to solve the mystery!  It's nice and easy to read, and one of those good books to take on holiday with you, if you like a bit of cosy crime, and a bit daft and silly so you won't feel too anxious as you read.

For more cosy crime, you might also enjoy reading [[Her Majesty the Queen Investigates: The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett]] or [[Agatha Raisin: Hot to Trot by M C Beaton and R W Green]]

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