Under the Paper Moon

Screenwriter Steinberg’s fizzy debut balances quick-witted romance with colorful bursts of two-fisted action. Beautiful socialite Evelyn Bishop has retired to 1948 Los Angeles after spying on Germany for the United States during WWII. While she’s initially grateful for the change of pace, Evelyn soon realizes she can’t return to a life of charity galas and doubles tennis, so she sets up shop as a private eye. Her first client, Collette Palmer, wants to know whether her husband, George, is cheating on her. The seemingly straightforward job spirals out of control when Evelyn finds George’s bullet-riddled corpse in his mistress’s apartment. What’s more, she learns that Nick Gallagher, a troubled fellow spy whom she grew close to during the war, is back in Los Angeles and was working as George’s private security. With Evelyn and Nick equally in the dark about George’s death, they agree to investigate it together, potentially rekindling their romantic flame just as Evelyn begins to question her betrothal to her childhood sweetheart, James. Steinberg’s screenwriting experience serves her well in a plot that often feels plucked from a black-and-white rom-com. While the narrative unfolds predictably, there’s plenty of bounce and bite in the execution. Readers will be eager to see what Steinberg does next. Agent: Kathy Green, Kathy Green Literary. (May)