In Saulnier's entertaining sixth Alex Bernier adventure (after 2003's Ecstasy
), the stubborn, brassy reporter for the Gabriel, N.Y., Monitor
gets mixed up in the dispute over the town's once-glorious Starlight Theatre. When socialite Sissy Dillingham, the major force behind the Save Our Starlight group (aka S.O.S.), is brutally murdered, Alex realizes there's far more at stake than rescuing the old place from demolition. As she looks into the theater's past, she discovers a decades-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of ingénue actress Ashley Sinclair, whom creepy Robert Renssellaer, a former child star and the biggest donor to the S.O.S. fund, used to know. As if coming up with fresh and interesting information about the theater weren't difficult enough, Alex must deal with cop boyfriend Brian Cody's ex-wife, who's decided she wants him back, and a rival New York Times
reporter, who wants to scoop her story. Despite a savage beating in the parking lot of her favorite Italian eatery to warn her off the investigation, the dogged Alex won't quit until she unravels the surprising truth. Agent, Jimmy Vines. (Apr.)
