As Dead As It Gets [Paperback]

Cady Kalian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2006

Maggie Mars used to be a journalist on the East Coast, but now she's come to L.A. to make a name for herself as a screenwriter... and maybe live her fantasy of someday meeting Jack Nicholson. When Roger Urban, her long-time mentor and friend, is found dead--in a splashy red garter and bra--Maggie is determined to find his killer.

 

Helping Maggie are her legal eagle of a boyfriend and her batty father. Not to mention an L.A. cop who thinks Maggie just might identify the killer. Because of her curiosity and stubbornness--or because he is her ex-boyfriend?
Maggie's always wanted to see her name in lights--and sometimes a girl gets what she wants. She might find out who killed Roger and become a hot news item.

As the next victim.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Screenwriter Kalian's sometimes frenetic, often funny debut introduces screenwriter Maggie Mars, who was a New York investigative journalist until a piece for Vanity Fair catapulted her to Los Angeles, where she serves as a board member of the Creative Artists Union (aka CAU, "irreverently known as COW"). Maggie is also working on a screenplay about an investigative reporter who's an alter ego. The novel's wonderful supporting cast includes Maggie's current boyfriend, a top-flight defense lawyer; a homicide cop ex-boyfriend, who's not entirely out of the romantic running; and a roommate who's a fount of Hollywood gossip. When CAU's executive director, Roger Urban, is found dead in the bathtub in an unoccupied house, wearing only a red garter belt and bra, Maggie goes into investigative mode on both coasts, takes some lessons from her alter ego and ends up with one of her dreams coming true. Kalian milks plenty of stereotypes, but does so with panache and enough originality to be refreshing. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Kalian is a veteran screenwriter who clearly knows her way around Hollywood and appreciates its colorful characters. She has put that knowledge to good use in the creation of Maggie Mars, a delightfully offbeat screenwriter with a "thing" for Jack Nicholson. Maggie is on the board of the Creative Artist's Union, or, as it is not-so-affectionately dubbed, COW. When Roger Urban, COW's executive director, is found murdered--dressed in women's undergarments--Maggie is determined to find the killer. Despite warnings from her current boyfriend, Henrick the lawyer, and her ex-boyfriend, Joe the homicide detective, Maggie braves threatening notes and a couple of attacks to continue investigating. Helping Maggie is her gay roommate, Lionel, one of the best gossips in La-La Land; hindering her is U. G. (Ulysses Grant) Mars, her mad--scientist father who may just get kicked out of his retirement home for one of his botched "experiments." Kalian crafts a first-rate mystery while convincingly portraying Hollywood and its shallow and neurotic denizens. An auspicious beginning to what is sure to become a popular series. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765313642
• ISBN-13: 978-0765313645
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,404,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall I liked it, October 6, 2006

By 

John Speer (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Dead As It Gets (Paperback)

A diabetic protaginist was an interesting differentiation. The L.A. setting was done well for me; I usually find the area geographically confusing to follow in books. I recommend the book, and would definitely read a sequel. A couple of quibbles though ... the love triangle thing was done by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series), and gets old fast. Also, I realize that in mystery series the author throws out more names to the reader than in "regular" fiction, but I was reeling through the first couple of chapters until it became clearer who the key players would be.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adventure of a Screenwriter in Hollywood, February 19, 2007

By 

Y. Yang (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Dead As It Gets (Paperback)

I got tons of flashbacks to DATING IS MURDER and SAVAGE GARDEN while reading this. Was it the LA setting? The constant driving and descriptions of cars? Though this was a murder mystery, I was in no hurry to see it end and have the crime solved. The victim was not a sympathetic character, and the heroine had so many funny side stories and tangential repartees that reading didn't feel compulsive like a good whodunit should, it was more like I'll keep on reading to hear more funny one-liners. I loved the roommate, Leroy, and the heroine in the heroine's movie script, the crime wasn't that gripping to me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This Hollywood is not square, February 24, 2008

By 

Joanne Stone Geier "JSG, 24/8BookClub" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Dead As It Gets (Mass Market Paperback)

It's a good night to celebrate. The writers strike is over, and Oscar night will be worth listening to, as well as watching.

As Dead As It Gets, by Cady Kalian, will help keep you in the Hollywood spirit. Snappy writing that even Jon Stewart would applaud, along with insiders writing secrets. The main character solves a murder while helping to avert a writers strike, and deciding who she really loves. You will guess both of these questions before Maggie Mars does, but the local, the dialogue and the characters keep the fun going for you. A Fun Read.