The Elvis and Marilyn Affair: A Neil Gulliver and Stevie Marriner Novel

The discovery of love letters between Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe supplies the premise for Levinson's stylish and droll debut. This intricate caper, set in L.A., combines the manners of hard-boiled detective fiction with the seriocomic antics of Nick and Nora Charles. Former crime beat reporter Neil Gulliver now writes a column about ""people at their best and worst"" for the take-no-prisoners (L.A.) Daily. His ex-wife, Stevie Marriner (""the sex queen of the soaps""), is about to make her big break from daytime TV to Broadway by starring in a one-woman show about the life of M.M. when the show's playwright-director, John ""Black Jack"" Sheridan, is murdered. Stevie is the prime suspect; in fact, she confesses to Neil, but claims she killed to save another's life. Using all his reportorial skills, Gulliver mines his Hollywood connections to convince the cops that his ex is innocent. His investigation digs into or trips over Hollywood's past by rounding up a glorious assortment of characters on the downslope of major careers: an aged, revered star; an intrepid former press head of 20th Century-Fox; one of Marilyn's confidants; an idolized cowboy star. The body count mounts when Gulliver's investigation reveals that the person who appears to be the real killer is protecting what Sheridan threatened to expose--a secret affair on the Fox lot in 1956 between Elvis and Marilyn. The hunt for the real murderer and the chase for the letters doesn't stop until the last page. Levinson, a former L.A. reporter and PR man, knows his Tinseltown and its myths, and uses them both to smart effect. (Aug.) FYI: This novel's pub date, August 16, marks the 22nd anniversary of Elvis's death.