Dead Pan: A Jocelyn O'Roarke Mystery - Hardcover

Dentinger, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670841080 ISBN 13: 9780670841080

Publisher: Viking, 1992

Synopsis

Pulling herself out of a New York City depression, actress-sleuth Jocelyn O'Roarke moves to Hollywood to work on a TV movie whose cast is wrought with hidden agendas and vicious scheming plots that lead to murder.

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Reviews

The fourth mystery featuring actress Jocelyn "Josh" O'Roarke (after the Edgar-nominated Murder on Cue ) seamlessly connects reel life to real life. Out of work, rebounding from a lengthy romance with NYPD Lt. Phillip Gerrard, Josh is ready for a change of scene when a longtime pal, screenwriter Austin Frost, calls her to L.A. to appear in a made-for-TV film opposite former child star and recovering drug addict Ginger Jellicoe. Ginger is trying to deal with her parents' recent deaths and her complicated relationships with a host of demanding people: domineering Buddy Banks, executor of her parents' estate and the film's director of photography; his wife (Ginger's agent); his sister (who plays Ginger's mother in the film); and Ginger's wayward husband, a freelance editor. When Buddy is found dead in the locked darkroom of his on-lot photography studio, the police view Ginger as a prime suspect. While developing a romantic attachment to studio hairdresser/horse rancher Jack Breedlove, Josh teams up with engaging LAPD surfer cop Dwayne Hamill to seek out other culprits and motives. References to Arsenic and Old Lace, Gaslight and Suspicion provide hints to the clever solution. Fans of old-time movies and pop culture allusions will savor the on-the-set shenanigans in this breezy read.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The fourth in this zingy series featuring New York actress/sleuth Jocelyn O'Roarke (Death Mask, etc.) brings her to Hollywood to work in a TV movie scripted by longtime friend Austin Frost. Jocelyn's affair with Police Detective Gerrard has soured; there's no work in New York; and Jocelyn's grateful for the job, even realizing a big part of it will be helping onetime child star Ginger Jellicoe with this comeback venture after her bout with drugs and failed marriages. Photography Director Buddy Banks is a stalwart friend to Ginger--he's godfather to her little girl Hollie, whose actor father, Tim Hayes, still seems to care about Ginger, though divorce is imminent. Work on the movie proceeds edgily until Buddy is found murdered in his darkroom. Finding out why and who (and keeping Ginger from being another victim) tests Jocelyn's wit and grit to the nth, even with help from rancher- hairdresser Jack Breedlove and Adonis-like LAPD detective Hamill. Lots of strenuously hip dialogue, convoluted plotting, and colorfully disagreeable characters in quick-cut style that's strained at times but mostly entertaining. Add a plus for vintage movie fans. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670841080
• ISBN 13: 9780670841080
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256