From Kirkus Reviews:
A slight, uneven, but likably amusing debut for Farrell--who was once an aspiring NY actress, as well as a part-time assistant to a private detective, and who uses both experiences in concocting this mystery-cum-satire. Farrell's alter-ego heroine is out-of-work actress Annie McGrogan, who eagerly grabs any temp assignments she can get from ``Duke'' DeNobili, ex-cop turned big-time p.i.--including the job of baby-sitting soap-opera star Lucinda Merrill, who's been scared by anonymous threats. And so, when Lucinda's kinky, druggie husband is murdered, Annie--who can swear she was watching over Lucinda on the night in question--becomes the key to the TV star's alibi. But what about the eyewitness who saw Lucinda at the murder site? It's up to Annie to puzzle out this contradiction and clear Lucinda's name. The plotting is obvious and paper-thin. But, though Farrell's comic touch is occasionally labored and crude, her sendups of show- biz--the crass soap-opera scene, the pretentious off-off-Broadway world (where Annie auditions)--hit the target as often as not. And Annie herself--helping her gay-actor pals, fending off a worthless (but sexy) ex-boyfriend, and pluckily mingling with assorted lowlifes--is an acerbic yet warmly agreeable narrator. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
The author, formerly an actress and a detective, here makes a delightful debut, calling on both those milieus. Aspiring actress Annie McGrogan moves from Hollywood to New York after her divorce, but the Big Apple doesn't offer the jobs Annie had hoped for. Having read an article about ex-cop and detective Duke DeNobili, she presses for a job as one of his operatives. Although doubtful about her qualifications, Duke hires Annie as a nighttime guard for soap opera actress Lucinda Merrill. When Lucinda's estranged husband is murdered, a witness claims to have seen the star fleeing the scene. Annie, who stayed in Lucinda's apartment the night of the murder, swears the woman didn't leave. As she juggles auditions, an acting class with Geraldine Page, serving subpoenas for Duke, and her unofficial investigation of the murder, the enchanting Annie struggles with the dichotomy between reality and sham. As depicted by Farrell, the stage world and the real world both ring true. Game and thoughtful Annie is a fresh and welcome addition to the burgeoning cast of fictional female detectives.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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