Lost Among the Angels (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Alice Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery | Publication Date: June 2006

Historical cozy mystery set in Los Angeles, CA, in 1926.

Mercy Allcutt, Boston Brahmin, wants to experience life in all its grittiness. How better than by working for a down-on-his luck PI in Hollywood? Once she discovers what PI actually stands for, she knows Mr. Ernest Templeton is the boss for her.

Raised in the ivory tower of proper Boston, when well-bred Mercy gets a job with Ernest Templeton, Private Investigator, she's ecstatic. Ernie, a jaded ex-cop, is incredulous. Together, they must cope with a stray child, kidnapping, blackmail, murder, a toy poodle, a vamp, a stalker, Mercy's overactive imagination and Ernie's strong protective streak. Throw in a speakeasy, Chinatown, and a couple of down-and-dirty criminals, and Mercy and Ernie are in for a drama that will put the motion picture industry to shame . . . if they can survive long enough to tell the story.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Five Star Trade (June 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594143633
• ISBN-13: 978-1594143632
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,933,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In an effort to avoid what I knew I should be doing with my life (writing'it sounded so hard), for several years I expressed my creative side by dancing and singing. I belonged to two professional international folk-dance groups. Dancing made for a lousy living, but it was certainly fun. I also sang in a Balkan women's choir. I got to sing the tenor drone, for the most part. My first book, ONE BRIGHT MORNING, was published by HarperMonogram in 1995. What's more, it won the HOLT Medallion for Best First Novel. It was a good start, but my career has been . . . rocky, is the best word for it, I guess. Publishing's a brutal business, but I've got more persistence than brains so the publishing gods haven't killed me yet, although they seem to be trying awfully darned hard, curse them. In September of 1996 my herd of wild dachshunds and I moved from Pasadena, CA, to Roswell, NM, where my mother's family settled fifty years before the aliens crashed. We love it here. No smog, no crowds, no money, but I had no money in California, either, and you don't need so much of it here.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One for the Keeper shelf., June 9, 2006

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Among the Angels (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Since one paragraph on the back of this book sums it up so well, I quote:

"Raised in the ivory tower of proper Boston, when well-bred Mercy [Allcutt] gets a job with Ernest Templeton, Private Investigator, she's ecstatic. Ernie, a jaded ex-cop, is incredulous. Together, they must cope with a stray child, kidnapping, blackmail, murder, a toy poodle, a vamp, a stalker, Mercy's overactive imagination and Ernie's strong protective streak. Throw in a speakeasy, Chinatown, and a couple of down-and-dirty criminals, and Mercy and Ernie are in for a drama that will put the motion picture industry to shame. If they can survive long enough to tell the story."

***** This gem reminded me of the old Dick Tracy comic strips (that I avidly read as a child), as well as of the black and white PI movies we all recall with glee. The story is set in 1926, Los Angeles. I found myself totally immersed before the first few pages were read. Author Alice Duncan either did a lot of research or she grew up on stories of the era. Each character has their own personality. The characters all dress the parts, all the way down to the bobbed hair style, and speak slang. Don't worry, you won't be lost. This book is headed directly to my "KEEPER" shelf. Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor rules!, November 16, 2006

By 

Lynda. Fitzgerald "Lynda Fitzgerald" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Among the Angels (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Too few books on the shelf today encourage us to chuckle--or to outright laugh. Alice Duncan's book does both. Her plucky heroine, her reluctant hero, and a host of bad guys are highly entertaining, as well as historically accurate. Alice clearly has a feel for that particular period in history. Lost Among the Angels is charming. It is enough to send you searching for everything else she's written--under whatever name.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read!, March 5, 2007

By 

Jeanne Glidewell (Bonner Springs, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lost Among the Angels (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Mercy Allcutt is a classic character from Boston, wealthy, prim and proper, but full of spunk. She moves to Hollywood to reside with her sister and brother-in-law, and takes a job as a secretary to P.I., Ernie Templeton. Determined to shed her upper class roots, she yearns to be considered as Templeton's "assistant" and to experience new and exciting adventures. Mercy goes beyond the call of duty to help put some bad guys behind bars. I look forward to more adventures of Mercy Allcutt and Ernie Templeton in the future. Alice Duncan has a new fan!