Synopsis
There is excitement in the air as the travelling theatre arrives in Seal Bay.
When The Spriggan Travelling Theatre Company arrives in Seal Bay to perform a Cornish version of King Arthur the locals flock to be entertained. But for Morwenna Mutton, sexagenarian librarian, wild swimming enthusiast and amateur sleuth, the theatre brings intrigue too. Actor and director Daniel Kitto is not the most popular member of the cast and unbeknownst to him, his role of Uther Pendragon on the opening night is to be his swansong.
In front of a horrified audience, he collapses during the dying moments of the performance in a pool of fake blood, and although the police are content that the causes of his death are natural, Morwenna isn’t so sure. And once it becomes clear that there are a number of people who stand to gain from Daniel’s death, Morwenna’s investigation takes a dangerous turn.
My Review
I have been a fan of Judy and her work for a while now. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed each and every book that she has released to date. I must admit that at the moment I have a particular soft spot for Judy’s cosy crime series, featuring the legendary character of Morwenna Mutton. I read and loved the first book in the series, which is called ‘Foul Play At Seal Bay’ and it was released in August 2023. Since then I have been (im)patiently waiting for the second book in the series to be released. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because the second book in the series is called ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ and it was released on 11th April 2024. I thought that the first book in the series was good but ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ is even better. I LOVED ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ but more about that in a bit.
I was drawn to ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ by the fact that I saw Judy’s name on the cover of a book that I knew I hadn’t read yet. When I started reading the story itself, I quickly realised that I wouldn’t be doing anything other than reading for the rest of the afternoon because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to put the book down. So it proved to be. I was drawn into the story from the start. My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen and of course I had to keep reading to see if I was anywhere near the truth or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I was so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I didn’t realise just how quickly the time was passing and the speed with which I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ and I had to say goodbye to Morwenna and the rest of the characters. I found ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ to be an unputdownable, page turner of a read, which certainly kept me guessing.
‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Judy Leigh. Judy has an easy going writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact reading one of Judy’s books often feels more like a chat between friends rather than reading a book. Judy grabs the reader’s attention from the start and draw them into what proves to be one heck of a story. Judy’s love for her characters shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. In fact Judy makes the characters seem so real that I ended up feeling as though they were friends of mine rather than characters in a book. I love the way in which Judy makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. That’s how I felt anyway.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Bloodshed On The Boards’ and I would definitely recommend the book to other readers. I look forward to reading much more of Judy’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
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