intriguing Hollywood who-done-it
Rating:
5 / 5
TV producer and host of the series Murder! Clark Kester hires mystery screenwriter Pete Castle to solve a homicide that will be the feature of this year's debut program. Pete is to identify who murdered movie swashbuckler Jock Newhall following the wrap party of the filming of Love's Lonely Quest. The homicide occurred four decades ago and no one has solved it yet, but on the positive side the key players still live. On the negative side, no one wants the investigation opened and Clark has been threatened.As Pete makes inquiries questioning the prime cast members, his father (head of security at Pacific Studios at that time) comes under suspicion. Pops refuses to talk about what happened the night that someone murdered Jock. Soon a copycat murder occurs as the culprit, probably the same person who killed Jock, murders Clark, making it imperative that Pete identify the killer(s) before someone else is dead. The cast makes A BLOOD RED ROSE an intriguing who-done-it as the hero struggles with his concern that his beloved Pop is intricately involved in at least a cover-up or worse. The story line hooks the audience with readers wondering how Pete will solve a case that is frozen. Though a punk's attempt to run the hero over with a forklift seems out of place, Pete makes the tale move at a fast clip. His interviews of the key players who starred in the ill fated film, the victim's granddaughter, the cop who investigated the homicide, his reluctant dad, and a medium claiming to speak with Jock's ghost leave readers with a fine mystery. Harriet Klausner
Two Thumbs Up for this Hollywood Murder Mystery
Rating:
5 / 5
"A Blood Red Rose" is a wickedly funny look at the inside forces of Hollywood and a page-turning mystery all rolled into one. Buck's hero, screenwriter Pete Castle, is asked to write a script for `Murder!' - a television reality program - recreating the 40-year-old unsolved murder of movie idol Jock Newhall. During a rehearsal for the program, Pete's friend and producer Clark Kester is killed in exactly the same way on the site of the original murder. It's up to Pete to solve both murders before someone else turns up dead.Buck, a former AP columnist who's covered every aspect of the entertainment industry, takes the reader on a journey that weaves through the Hollywood Hills and through the front doors of some of Hollywood's most infamous players. The dialogue is crisp and witty, and Pete's relationship with his father, a former studio head of security, fine-tunes the mystery further with the notion that everything isn't always as it appears. With Pete Castle, Buck has given us a new protagonist who is sure to be back in another starring role.
A Blood Red Rose
Rating:
5 / 5
This is a book that will appeal to hard-core mystery fans, and to those who like a look inside the workings of Hollywood. The author covered the entertainment industry for The Associated Press for a number of years, and he uses the knowledge he picked up there to pepper the book with insights and insider information not available to most authors.
Buck's hero, Pete Castle, is a Hollywood screenwriter who is asked to investigate and develop a TV program aimed at solving the 40-year-old murder of a top movie star before a room-full of wrap-party guests. Before long, there are death threats and more murders or attempted murders.
The author uses authentic-sounding dialogue as the hero questions those who were at the party where the murder occurred, and assorted others who might know something about it. Along the way, Castle comes in for a variety of bumps and bruises and attempts on his life.
It is a well-written book, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.
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