View source for When The Curtain Falls by Carrie Hope Fletcher

{{infobox1
|title=When The Curtain Falls
|author=Carrie Hope Fletcher
|reviewer= Mary Waterfall
|genre=Paranormal
|summary=  What a gloriously satisfying read. The villains are the perfect amount of villainous, the lovers truly convincing and the writing bewitching.   The drama resonates with the larger than life heyday of classic movies and theatre. The heroines, strong and elegant and the heroes slightly ragged around the edges. This is not however a soppy nostalgic look to the past, but a fresh and exciting story of love, betrayal and revenge. Get ready to shiver with anticipation, cry with empathy, but also prepare to be amused and captivated. 
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=368
|publisher=Sphere
|date=July 2018
|isbn= 978-0751571226
|website= http://www.carriehopefletcher.com/
|video= Q7o163QU8CE
|cover=0751571229
|aznuk=0751571229
|aznus=0751571229
}} 
A thoroughly, magical and riveting story that hooks you in from the first page and takes you on a roller coaster ride towards the last. Fletcher weaves together a dash of ''whodunit'' the thrill of romance, (the course of which never runs smoothly,) and an unpredictable ghost.  The ghost appears once a year, the principal star of her very own show, to meet with the love of her life and re-enact her death. A tragic accident with the roots buried deep within the whole array of human nature. Love, joy, care, friendship, jealousy, possessiveness, selfishness, cold ambition, all laid bare on centre stage.
 
Olive and Oscar, the leads for the new rendition of the play, tiptoe around each other as they fall into a passionate love affair. As their relationship blossoms their love stirs up a bubbling mire of emotions, both for the cast and the resident ghost. At the centre of the plot, mysteriously looming over everything hides an intriguing seventy-year-old tragedy. Could history be repeated? Could tragedy strike again? Whose side is the ghost on anyway?
 
The play within the story is compelling in its own right, cleverly written to echo the drama that takes place behind the scenes. The liveliness of the character interactions and descriptions of the workings of the theatre firmly place the reader at the centre of the action. The lurch of the stomach before the curtain rises, the nervous first read of the script and the building confidence of the actors as the play takes shape. The theatre itself, revealed through evocative detail, the smell of the greasepaint, the floating dust motes, the flare of the lights.  A beguiling tale, told with such colour and depth it leaves you with a contented sigh as everything unravels towards the finish.
 
For readers who want more, then [[Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne]] is similarly intriguing but with more historical content. For purely riveting ghost stories, then [[The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales by Kate Mosse]] are perfect.
 
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[[Category:Crime]] [[Category:Women's Fiction]]