Murder in the Prop Loft

Retirement was supposed to mean Daphne Mercer was finished calling cues, managing egos, and fixing disasters five minutes before curtain. Then she came home to Bellweather. After decades working as a professional stage manager, Daphne returns to her hometown expecting a quiet visit and a chance to sort through the memories she left behind. Instead, she finds herself drawn back into the Founders Theatre, where a community production of The Importance of Being Earnest is stumbling toward opening night amid missing props, bruised egos, old rivalries, and enough backstage drama to fill several plays. At the center of it all is Evelyn Harcourt—the theatre's brilliant, demanding, and beloved grande dame. Until Daphne finds her dead in the prop loft. There is no bloody crime scene. No obvious weapon. And seemingly no reason anyone would want Evelyn dead. But Daphne spent nearly four decades backstage, where she learned an important lesson: people behave very differently when they think the audience isn't watching. Soon, nearly everyone connected to the production has something to hide. A longtime actress has spent years living in Evelyn's shadow. The theatre's trusted treasurer is concealing troubling financial problems. Evelyn's nephew fears he may have been cut from her will. The director is considering an opportunity that could leave the production in chaos. And Daphne's oldest friend has a painful connection to Evelyn that she would rather keep buried. Then there is the tea. The missing financial paperwork. A suspicious restoration company that seems to exist only on invoices. And one Victorian chair in the prop loft sitting six inches from where it belongs. To anyone else, six inches means nothing. To a retired stage manager, it means someone moved it. As Detective Lena Ortiz investigates the official evidence, Daphne begins doing what she has always done best: watching entrances, remembering exits, noticing what has changed, and listening carefully when people forget their lines. The closer she gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that Evelyn discovered a secret someone desperately needed to keep hidden. And backstage at the Founders Theatre, someone has already proven they're willing to kill to make sure the truth never reaches opening night. Murder in the Prop Loft is the first book in the Backstage Daphne Mysteries, a warm, character-driven cozy mystery series featuring a sharp-witted retired stage manager, an eccentric community theatre, small-town secrets, longtime friendships, fair-play clues, plenty of humor, and a murder where the smallest thing out of place may reveal the biggest secret. Perfect for readers who enjoy clever amateur sleuths, mature female protagonists, theatrical mysteries, close-knit communities, gentle humor, and classic whodunits without graphic violence. The house lights are dimming. The suspects are in their places. And Daphne Mercer is about to discover that murder has a way of happening just out of sight of the audience.