The discovery of love letters between Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe supplies the premise for Levinson's stylish and droll debut. This intricate caper, set in L.A., combines the manners of hard-boiled detective fiction with the seriocomic antics of Nick and Nora Charles. Former crime beat reporter Neil Gulliver now writes a column about "people at their best and worst" for the take-no-prisoners (L.A.) Daily. His ex-wife, Stevie Marriner ("the sex queen of the soaps"), is about to make her big break from daytime TV to Broadway by starring in a one-woman show about the life of M.M. when the show's playwright-director, John "Black Jack" Sheridan, is murdered. Stevie is the prime suspect; in fact, she confesses to Neil, but claims she killed to save another's life. Using all his reportorial skills, Gulliver mines his Hollywood connections to convince the cops that his ex is innocent. His investigation digs into or trips over Hollywood's past by rounding up a glorious assortment of characters on the downslope of major careers: an aged, revered star; an intrepid former press head of 20th Century-Fox; one of Marilyn's confidants; an idolized cowboy star. The body count mounts when Gulliver's investigation reveals that the person who appears to be the real killer is protecting what Sheridan threatened to exposeAa secret affair on the Fox lot in 1956 between Elvis and Marilyn. The hunt for the real murderer and the chase for the letters doesn't stop until the last page. Levinson, a former L.A. reporter and PR man, knows his Tinseltown and its myths, and uses them both to smart effect. (Aug.) death.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Mystery fans should applaud an exciting newcomer--Levinson, who draws on his extensive background in entertainment PR and the music business in La-La Land to fashion a smart, sassy, fast-paced crime read that is funny, inventive, and hard to put down. Newspaper writer Neil Gulliver can't help helping his ex-wife, Stevie Marriner, the "sex star of the soaps," when she appears to be the prime suspect in the murder of Blackie Sheridan, in whose show about Marilyn Monroe she is starring. Sheridan, an Oscar-winning director, was retired and residing in a community for Hollywood once-weres managed by a has-been. Quite a collection of film industry people are housed there, including a dotty actress who is the only witness to the murder. When a batch of love letters allegedly exchanged between Elvis and Marilyn during the filming of Love Me Tender seems to set off still more killings, Neil must delve deeply into the history of the key players and of the movie business itself to clear his beloved Stevie's name. Levinson's debut should leave many ardently hoping that it just begins what ought to be a most entertaining series. Whitney Scott
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