Recommended Reads: ‘Hollywood Homicide’ a mystery that’s laugh-out-loud funny

Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett

Unemployed actress Dayna Anderson was looking for a job, not a mystery, when she was scrounging for her last coins to pay for gas. Her car had abruptly hit empty, leaving her stranded blocks down the street. Above her loomed a billboard offering a reward for information on a recent hit and run. Dayna had been in the vicinity and thought she may be able to find information to collect some much needed money.

As Dayna pulls together the information she knows, what’s revealed pulls her into a full-on amateur sleuth investigation. At the same time. the intriguing questions and puzzling clues pull the reader eagerly in t, find the solution. You’ll truly be tested to identify the murderer and the motivation behind the murder.

As important as it is to share a good mystery, this author also gives us a great cast of characters who bring a delightful vitality and humor to the story. Dayna, with her closest friends Sienna and Emme, are truly laugh-out-loud funny, so if you’re reading around other people on the bus or at the coffee shop you may get some stares, and then some people around you writing down the title of the book. The humor rises naturally from the characters and the situations. You’ll feel like you’re there, laughing with them.

Small-town character Omari, who has just made it big in one of Hollywood’s newest cop shows, is a stunning choice for a romantic interest. We get to see him skyrocketing with the overnight success that actually takes years, plus a lucky break. In this case, he edges out the originally cast star of the new TV series by a nose, literally.

Added appeal comes from the book’s setting, with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. “Hollywood is high school with prettier clothes and better lunch options. You study scripts, not textbooks. Try out for roles, not varsity. Take screen tests, not math exams. And you vote for Oscars, not prom king.”

The author knows the place well. Kellye Garrett spent eight years successfully working in Hollywood, including writing for the CBS drama Cold Case. She expertly layers in interesting insights about the town and the celebrity business, along with making some fun of the phenomenon that it is.

If you want to hear more from the author herself, click on the podcast – Kendall & Cooper Talk Mysteries with Kellye Garrett

A great setting, starring a fun sleuth with her bright friends, plunged into the subterfuge of murder.

Thereby hangs a tale . . . .

— By Wendy Kendall

Wendy Kendall is a writer, project manager and volunteer at the Edmonds Library. Follow her via her blog here or on Twitter @wendywrites1.

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