Three Sisters (Emily Castles Mysteries #1) by Helen Smith

Emily goes to a party she was invited to mostly because her dog has died and she needs to get out of the house and get back to living again.  What she didn't expect to find was a performance ongoing during the event.  Nothing is quite like it seems.

The author shared a copy of this book with me for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

While Emily visits with neighbors and watches the performances she ends up being drawn into one.  A woman wants her to find a suitcase and take it downstairs to a man who is waiting for it.  She finally says yes and, with help, gets the heavy case down the stairs.  The man hands her a key and she opens it.  The woman who asked for her help has folded herself up in the suitcase!

With all this going on, she's not surprised to see a knife act coming up.  What she doesn't expect is one of the knives to be real and to watch someone die.  She also doesn't expect her dead woman to come back to life.  She's sure she was dead, she saw the life leave her eyes.  But everyone else thinks it's just her imagination after her loss of her dog.  

This is an interesting mystery with performances, odd neighbors, and murder going on under your nose.  Emily does ferret out the truth but it's not pleasant...