Make Believe (Edna Ferber Mysteries) - Hardcover

Ifkovic, Ed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1464200807 ISBN 13: 9781464200809

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2012

Synopsis

In June 1951, Edna Ferber heads to Hollywood to support her friend Max Jeffries who has found himself blacklisted after the McCarthy hearings in Washington rattled Hollywood with allegations of Communist-leaning sympathies. Edna first met Max when he worked on the 1927 Broadway production of Show Boat, and now he's brought his magic to a new production starring Ava Gardner. Walked off the Metro lot, shunned by friends, Max is "uncredited" on the film because of his political leanings. Edna's visit is one of friendship - nothing more. But all that changes when Max is murdered.

Edna begins socializing with Ava Gardner, currently scandalizing Hollywood with her affair with Frank Sinatra. Edna finds the hard-as-nails temptress a vulnerable, insecure woman whom she comes to like. Max was killed right after a public brawl with Sinatra, and Ava fears her lover will be arrested. Edna plays sleuth quietly, uncovering dark layers of greed, envy, and desire. Against the backdrop of the new Show Boat is the tawdry romance of dream-street Hollywood itself - both parts of the world of "Make Believe."

About this title

About the Author

Edward Ifkovic taught literature and creative writing at a community college in Connecticut for more than three decades. His short stories and essays have appeared in the Village Voice, America, Hartford Monthly, and Journal of Popular Culture. A longtime devotee of mystery novels, he fondly recalls discovering Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason series in a family bookcase.

From Booklist

The first Edna Ferber mystery, Lone Star (2009), took place in 1955, during the filming of Ferber’s novel Giant. The second, Escape Artist (2011), jumped back in time five decades; Ferber was still a newspaper reporter and teamed up with Harry Houdini to solve a mystery. Now, in her third adventure, we return to the 1950s, as MGM is gearing up for a new film version of Ferber’s Show Boat. She’s not thrilled about another Show Boat movie—especially since she’s not getting paid a cent—but when her longtime friend, a blacklisted screenwriter, is found murdered, Ferber puts aside her misgivings about the project to find out who’s responsible for the killing. Celebrity guest appearances include Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, but—like Ferber herself—they’re definitely fictionalized versions of the real people. This series is a lot of fun. Ifkovic has made a clever decision not to take the stories in chronological order, and his Edna Ferber is a wonderful creation, smart and sassy and determined and immensely likable. Fans of Hollywood-themed mysteries featuring real people—Stuart Kaminsky’s Toby Peters novels, for example—will have a great time here. --David Pitt

Edition details

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1464200807
• ISBN 13: 9781464200809
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 250