The cast of a long-running British soap opera, “Jubilee Terrace,” is perturbed. Director Reggie Friedman has just informed them that a detested former cast member will be rejoining the show.
Not only is Hamish Fawly extremely nasty, he loves to cause trouble. In this case, he announces to everyone that he is engaged to marry Bet Garrett, an occasional cast member who is the real-life wife of Bill Garrett, the bartender on the show. Bet, who loves to make Bill miserable, promptly dispatches a letter from her lawyer claiming custody of their three daughters, even though she doesn’t really want them.
Detective Charlie Peace arrives on set because the police have received an anonymous letter claiming that the death of a previous cast member, Vernon Watts, was no accident. Finding no substance for the claim, Peace thinks he’s seen the last of the cast when someone sets Hamish’s house on fire, burning to death Hamish and a woman, presumed to be Bet. But shortly, it becomes clear that the victim is another woman, who also had a connection to Vernon Watts.
The novel has many characters, and they are so one-dimensional that I found it difficult to keep them straight, especially as most of them are called by two names, their character’s name and their own. I found The Killings on Jubilee Terrace only mildly interesting, even though it has a difficult solution.
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