Murder at the Academy Awards by Joan Rivers with Jerrilyn FarmerThe sleuth in this mystery is Maxine Taylor, a say-it-like-it-is red carpet fashionista covering the Academy Awards with her daughter Drew. Sound like anyone we know? Of course it does. Joan Rivers admits that she is writing about herself (albeit a much younger version) who gets involved with a juicy murder on the red carpet (which has thankfully not happened).
Halsey Hamilton is the second youngest starlet ever nominated for Best Actress. She is also a train wreck. She’s been in rehab for the past three months and wasn’t supposed to come to the ceremony, but Max has just learned that not only is the troubled starlet coming, she’s giving Max an exclusive interview! All seems wonderful until Halsey arrives sans dress and incoherent, eventually lying down on the red carpet, and as far as Max can tell, dying. Who could possibly want to extinguish such a rising star? Max and her entourage are on the case.
While humor and biting comments abound with name dropping and Hollywood commentary, there is also a really good mystery at the core of this story. I was pleasantly surprised. If you need some pre-Oscar warm up this may be the book for you.
