{"description": {"type": "/type/text", "value": "he humble town of Brayne is about to be upgraded to a borough. For energetic councilor Julian Perse such elevated status requires proper celebration, namely the organization of a multi-part historical pageant to be held throughout the village. A parade of figures\u2014including Henry VIII with six wives in tow and Edward III\u2014will entertain the crowd in the high street, building to an evening performance of dancers, tumblers, comedians, children\u2019s choir, and selections from The Merry Wives of Windsor at the town (now borough) hall. To pull all these elements together and essentially stage-manage the spectacle, Julian presses into service his aunt, successful fashion writer Kitty Trevelyan-Twigg. Reluctant but unwilling to let her nephew down, Kitty lends her services; first, though, she consults her old Carteret College friend Laura Menzies, who looks on in amused interest.\r\n\r\nThe day arrives and the pageant looks to be a success, despite concerns over early morning rain and, later, a donkey joining the squire\u2019s horse on the field during a stately display of dressage. At the town hall, the jokes of the hired comedy act are not blue but merely stale, the children remain under control, and Falstaff is speedily removed in Windsor\u2019s washing basket. When the actor fails to appear for his second scene, however, Kitty is forced to usher in the night\u2019s next performance. Falstaff reappears by the river, the basket nearby and a fatal knife wound in his side. An agitated Kitty reports to Laura, who in turn tells her employer, Dame Beatrice Bradley. It\u2019s just as well that the aged psychoanalyst is brought in: the actor playing Henry VIII soon disappears, and his costumed body is found\u2014minus the head\u2014in a wooded lane.\r\n\r\n\u200bDespite these perceived curses (and against Kitty\u2019s wishes), Julian Perse decides to mount a sequel to the star-crossed pageant, this one much less publicized and without the town\u2019s formal blessing. A re-enactment of an eighteenth century election ends in a modern-day gang fight, and the following morning finds the unfortunate Edward III swinging from the Hangman\u2019s Oak tree. A hunch leads Laura to the discovery of Henry\u2019s head, while Dame Beatrice works with the police to unmask the culprit and put a stop to these historically-themed murders."}, "title": "Pageant of murder", "covers": [7921240], "subject_places": ["England"], "subjects": ["Fiction", "Women detectives", "Beatrice Lestrange Bradley (Fictitious character)", "Large type books", "Fiction, mystery & detective, general", "Crime, fiction"], "key": "/works/OL4925078W", "authors": [{"type": {"key": "/type/author_role"}, "author": {"key": "/authors/OL1057958A"}}], "type": {"key": "/type/work"}, "latest_revision": 6, "revision": 6, "created": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2009-12-10T08:01:48.945445"}, "last_modified": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2024-06-17T03:17:59.548945"}}