Death on a Deadline by Joyce St. Anthony

Death on a Deadline
by Joyce St. Anthony

ISBN-13: 9781639101153
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Released: November 8th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
As World War II rages in Europe and the Pacific, the small town of Progress is doing its part for the soldiers in the field with a war bond drive at the annual county fair. Town gossip Ava Dempsey rumors that Clark Gable will be among the participating stars. Instead of Gable, the headliner is Freddie Harrison, a B-movie star. When Freddie turns up dead in the dunk tank, Irene Ingram, editor-in-chief of The Progress Herald, starts chasing the real headline.

There are plenty of suspects and little evidence. Ava’s sister Angel, who was married to the dead actor, is the most obvious. The couple had argued about his affair with the young starlet Belinda Fox, and Angel was the last person known to have seen Freddie alive. Irene discovers there’s more than one person who might have wanted Freddie dead. As Irene draws on her well-honed reporter’s instincts to find the killer, her own deadline could be right around the corner.


My Review:
Death on a Deadline is a mystery set in 1942 in America. This is the second book in a series, but it can be understood without reading the previous novel and didn't spoil the previous mystery.

Irene's been left in charge of her father's newspaper business, and she's good at the job. Historical details about the war, war bonds, and such were woven into the story and created a distinct feel of the times. The mystery was clue-based. Irene decided to investigate the murder, and she kept asking questions until she found the truth. Whodunit was guessable from the clues, though it wasn't really clear until one character led Irene into a trap where the bad guys explained it all. Happily, Irene and friend rescued themselves. Go, girls!

However, Irene was rather rude to her soon-to-be-father-in-law, the police chief. For example, he came to ask her mother about the process of transferring the war bond money to the bank, and before he could fully explain why he's there, Irene was yelling at him saying he was accusing her mother of stealing money. Which he wasn't. She also demanded to be taken to a crime scene even though she had no need to be there. She also had to admit that she'd broken into someone's room and stolen a piece of evidence (which she didn't even give to him). He just shrugged it off. To me, it seemed unrealistic that the police chief was still on such good terms with her by the end.

There was no sex. There were a few uses of bad language (including b--ch). Overall, I'd recommend this historical mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.