Dead Pan: 2a Jocelyn O'Roarke Mystery

The fourth mystery featuring actress Jocelyn ``Josh'' O'Roarke (after the Edgar-nominated Murder on Cue ) seamlessly connects reel life to real life. Out of work, rebounding from a lengthy romance with NYPD Lt. Phillip Gerrard, Josh is ready for a change of scene when a longtime pal, screenwriter Austin Frost, calls her to L.A. to appear in a made-for-TV film opposite former child star and recovering drug addict Ginger Jellicoe. Ginger is trying to deal with her parents' recent deaths and her complicated relationships with a host of demanding people: domineering Buddy Banks, executor of her parents' estate and the film's director of photography; his wife (Ginger's agent); his sister (who plays Ginger's mother in the film); and Ginger's wayward husband, a freelance editor. When Buddy is found dead in the locked darkroom of his on-lot photography studio, the police view Ginger as a prime suspect. While developing a romantic attachment to studio hairdresser/horse rancher Jack Breedlove, Josh teams up with engaging LAPD surfer cop Dwayne Hamill to seek out other culprits and motives. References to Arsenic and Old Lace, Gaslight and Suspicion provide hints to the clever solution. Fans of old-time movies and pop culture allusions will savor the on-the-set shenanigans in this breezy read. (Oct.)