Ashley Weaver (A Most Novel Revenge), takes her characters into the heart of the London theater scene in An Act of Villainy. Amory Ames and her husband, Milo, have just been to a play in London's West End when they run into an old friend, Gerard Holloway. He invites them to come see a performance of the new play he's directing. When Milo informs Amory sotto voce that Holloway has cast his mistress as the lead in the play, Amory is both appalled for her friend Georgina, Holloway's wife, and intrigued to see Miss Flora Bell.
Flora Bell turns out to be an astonishingly good actress--who has been getting threatening letters. Amory and Milo agree to help look into who has been sending them, but before they reach any conclusions, Flora is found strangled.
Amory is the one who finds Flora's body, and manages to convince Scotland Yard that she and Milo ought to assist in the murder investigation. Weaver skillfully presents believable motives for nearly all the cast members to want Flora dead, making Milo and Amory's task practically insurmountable, until Amory has a breakthrough. Funny, with a mellow pace and occasional introspection from Amory about the state of her marriage, An Act of Villainy is a charming historical mystery in the vein of Rhys Bowen or Jacqueline Winspear. Weaver brings the glittery world of 1930s high society to the forefront, and Amory and Milo's lazy, glamorous life is sure to enchant readers. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.