When Bay Browning helps direct the Flourish College summer theater production, "Shakespeare's Couch," she doesn't plan for murder at the first practice. Someone wants revenge against the elite cast members, as more terror unfolds on stage and backstage with each rehearsal. What should be a lighthearted parody on The Bard and his characters is cursed from the start, even without someone shouting "Macbeth" in the theater. Detective Downing takes charge of the crime, but Bay and her puzzle-solving cohort, Jen Yoo, follow their own script behind the scenes. Cassandra, Bay's extraordinary sister, makes her own dramatic entrance on the case. After all, Cass is now the personal assistant to one of the elites living the high life on the bluff above Prairie Ridge. How many tragic scenes will be scripted before the villain faces the final curtain? Professor Bay Browning first made her appearance in The Medusa Murders, solving a crime steeped in literature and mythology. Shake-speared in the Park continues the literary theme with a foray into Shakespearian territory, where a murder is linked to a Shakespeare costume party gone awry. Bay Browning and her newly reunited sister Cassandra find themselves embroiled in a puzzler which involves the aristocratic Posey, head of the Twenty-first Century Club and Literary Society. Posey's parties are renowned - but this garden party proves to be the most memorable of them all. Viewpoints shift between Cass, sister Bay, and sometimes the combination of the two as they are tapped to become involved in a dangerous cat-and-mouse investigation because of their prior investigative success. As they uncover truths about lead actor Talon Hunt's associations and death, the sisters draw ever closer as they navigate student actors, fellow investigators, and truths that unexpectedly link back to not just Shakespeare, but another "accident" involving Cher Devane (who plays Juliet), Jackson, and other actors. Joy Ann Ribar is masterful at creating her characters' connections to one another, highlighting Shakespearian drama, and evolving deadly events which reach out to embroil Cass and Bay in another mystery. The dance between the sisters and those who influence their relationship and personal lives adeptly turns into a compelling series of steps taken to delve into motivations, consequences, and the sisters' own developing relationship. Ribar cements her characters in not only mystery and unexpected events, but an investigative process that challenges each player's concepts of justice and retribution. Added value stems from the interaction between possible bullies and actors who might harbor secret lives or nefarious objectives. These developments lend a full-bodied feel to a story steeped in and supported by relationship developments that play out both onstage and in the wings. Filled with a cast of characters that each grow and develop while contributing their personalities to the mystery's development and outcome, Shake-speared in the Park is quite simply thoroughly engrossing, hard to predict, and impossible to put down. Diane Donovan, Senior Editor Midwest Book Review Joy Ann Ribar is a Wisconsin native with Scandinavian roots. Enjoy her hygge-style mysteries featuring sass, bakery, wine and crime! A semi-retired English instructor, Joy has taught writing courses for high schoolers and college students for 20 years. She holds a BA in Journalism from UW-Madison and an MS in Education from UW-Oshkosh. She enjoys traveling, birding, baking, wineries and exploring the outdoors. In 2022, Joy and husband John traded the sticks-and-bricks life for a full-time RV gypsy one. If you see her in your town, please stop to chat. If you'd like your local bookstore to have Joy as its guest, email Joy at or connect on social media! See more at JoyRibar.com. Signup for her newsletter to get free recipes.