Shooting Script

Accused of plagiarizing the script he has written for a potentially big TV series, Byron Saldinger soon finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation when his accuser turns up dead. 20,000 first printing. $15,000 ad/promo.

Screenwriter, novelist ( The Bottletop Affair ) and Edgar-winning TV writer Cotler sets this nifty bicoastal mystery in the unsavory milieu of network TV. Writer Byron "Mike" Saldinger is about to sell a career-saving TV series when Niko Stavros, a New York writer who claims Mike stole his story idea, is thrown out the window of his L.A. hotel room. Mike becomes the LAPD's chief murder suspect. His slimy producers rush to get the series going; his slimy agent seeks another writer client; a slimy network exec persuades him to commit a burglary in New York to find Stavros's "original" script. Mike eludes the LAPD, the NYPD and the mysterious killer who has targeted him with help from Al Vecchi, a puckish retired New York City cop and TV consultant. Cotler's brisk, intricate plot, his TV-biz setting and his cast--especially the winning Vecchi--all satisfy, as does the story's neat surprise ending.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The man who accuses screenwriter/narrator Byron of plagiarism ends up dead in Los Angeles, so the police of course suspect Byron. His nubile alibi vanishes, but he soon falls in with a helpful retired cop working as a movie consultant. Gun-toting muggers, misguided Greek relatives, back-stabbing agents, and the dubious police hamper the writer's search for evidence until his friend's legwork pays off. Another slick but appealing production in the coast-to-coast mode, filled with denizens of studio offices and back streets alike.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.