Murder At The Ballet

Babe Archer and the killer-chasers from My Gun Is Pink are at it again. This time the suspect is Babe Archer's handsome secretary, Vernon. The victim is a world-famous ballerina who was a college sweetheart of Vernon's. When her troupe comes to perform, she invites Vernon backstage. During the intermission she is found dead in the green room, and Vernon is standing over her holding the murder weapon. It's an open-and-shut case until Babe Archer comes to his defense. Can she prove that Vernon is innocent? Murder at the Ballet is sort of a sequel to Jeffrey Goffin's popular My Gun Is Pink. In both, the traditional murder-mystery roles have been reversed. Although similar in every other way to the world of detective mysteries of the 1940s, in this world women are in charge. The detective, the police inspector and other authority figures are women. In contrast, the roles usually played by women, such as the detective's secretary, are men. The result is a satire on the detective genre and on gender stereotypes. Babe Archer is a Mike Hammer-type—a tough, no-nonsense private investigator. Vernon Hopkins is her good-looking private secretary. The police inspector and the rookie cop are women. It all adds up to fun for the performers and their audiences—with a good dose of suspense and fast action blended in. It works for actors and viewers of all ages from junior high to adults.