Dazzled: A Nikki Easton Mystery

Nunes uneasily mixes sex, drugs, and politics in her noirish first novel, which introduces aspiring L.A. actress Nikki Easton. When Nikki’s best friend, Darla Ward, a promising bit player seemingly on her way to stardom, vanishes, Nikki starts looking for answers. She fears the worst after the discovery of the body of an unidentified young blonde woman at the scene of a multiple homicide in the Hollywood Hills. But is the woman, her face bashed beyond recognition, really Darla? Despite warnings from the police, Nikki persists in chasing down unpleasant members of Darla’s family, and even more dangerously, pesters unsavory characters with ties to the other Hollywood Hills victims. As she wends her way through a bleak landscape of grungy used-car lots, blighted homes, and drug-infested parks, Nikki manages to irritate almost everyone, including some very important people. Full of red herrings, the uneven story tends to wander, until it reaches its astonishing, tightly controlled conclusion. (Oct.)