Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Stage Fright
SERIES: Jimmy McSwain Files #3
AUTHOR: Adam Carpenter
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 8 hours, 37 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020
BLURB:
All the world’s a stage, but in Stage Fright, Hell’s Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain learns that life upon its wicked boards can be a killer.
The Harold Calloway Theatre on West 47th Street is home to the new play Triskaidekaphobia, and its playwright has been receiving threatening messages. Theater owner and lead producer Wellington Calloway has hired Jimmy to investigate, but it’s a case not without its complications. His mother is the head usher there, and Jimmy grew up on its aisles. His ex, Remy, is also the costume designer for the show, a man he hasn’t seen in years.
Further making his life difficult is the mysterious Seetha Assan, who is connected – albeit tentatively – to the case that forever haunts Jimmy – his own father’s murder. She may just have the clue to help him finally solve the cold case.
As opening night for the play looms, Jimmy finds himself involved in a nest of egos and personalities, all while seeking to find the missing Seetha. Toss in his on-again, off-again relationship with Captain Francis X. Frisano, and suddenly Jimmy’s life is edging toward tragedy. That’s when a murderer strikes, and suddenly nothing is pretend anymore. Life on the stage has turned all too real, and all too deadly. Just like on the mean streets of Manhattan.
REVIEW:
We are back in Hell’s Kitchen where Jimmy McSwain has gotten a new case. Threatening messages has been sent to the playwright of a new play opening soon on The Harold Calloway Theatre. It’s a place filled with memories of the past, god and bad ones and it’s not without some complications. His mother is the usher, and his ex is the costume designer for the play. However, this isn’t the only case Jimmy is working on. He’s also searching for any and all clues that will lead to the identity of the one that killed his father some 15 years earlier. It’s a case that’s been cold for years, a case the police has buried for years. A case Jimmy can’t let go of. So when the sister of the man that was killed in a shoot—out a few months earlier turns up, Jimmy doesn’t waste time figuring out everything that she knows about that night so long ago when his father was gunned down.
I’m loving these books, everything about them really. They’re gentle in a way, nothing over the top, nothing rushed. Everything is allowed space, to be examined from different angles and to evolve; relationships and evidence alike. Like the previous ones, this book isn’t a romance. It’s more of a police procedural with the occasional romantic interlude. I’m loving all of it, love the balance of it all, it makes me want to come back for more.
This book was performed by Joel Leslie, and it was a great performance. Just like always he has a great pacing that fits well with the story. His wide range of voices makes it easy for the listener to follow along the story, knowing who speaks and keeping the different characters apart. He also captures the feel of the moment, the sense of place and it enables the listener to travel to Hell’s Kitchen, to Jimmy. We also feel his desperate search for answers, to solve his “Forever Haunts” case.
Stage Fright could probably be read as a standalone, as each new book follows a new case. On the other hand both of the previous books will give insight to Jimmy and his family, make you more invested in their lives and fate. But it will also enable you to pick up on a clue or two on the Forever Haunt, following Jimmy’s desperate search for answers. This book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger as such, but more on the note that more will follow in the lives of Jimmy McSwain and his family. And it’s a tale that I’m eager to follow.
RATING: 
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