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Hollywood, tinsel town, in the late 1930s is the setting for the novel by the versatile Ace Collins. It’s a time before computer enhanced special effects where giant studios created the images seen on the screen through human ingenuity. And big name stars made movies with an eye to creating diversions for people caught up in the horror of the great depression.

Shelby Beckett and her family have to leave their farm in Oklahoma due to drought and financial ruin. A situation made familiar by John Steinbeck in several of his books. Her father has been promised help in securing a job with a studio in Hollywood, and Shelby also manages to obtain a position in the wardrobe department as a seamstress.

Charmed by the stars, Flynn Sparks and his rival Dalton Andrews, two of the biggest luminaries working for the studio Shelby becomes exposed to the party atmosphere they exist in. She becomes familiar with stars like Clark Gable and Cary Grant. She is also attractive enough to possibly become an actress.

Collins utilizing the atmosphere of this era sets up a murder mystery involving a serial killer that selects starlets as his prey. Bill Barrester is the police detective assigned to catch the killer and at one crucial point asks Shelby to help him.

As in all Ace Collins’ novels the action is fast, the characters interesting and well fleshed out. The book is more a fast read than an engrossing one, but Collins very rarely disappoints and Hollywood Lost is no exception.

4/15 Paul Lane

HOLLYWOOD LOST by Ace Collins. Abingdon Press (April 21, 2015). ISBN978-1426771880. 320p.

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This is the second book in a planned trilogy set in a part of the South still rooted in deep racial division. It begins about the time of the Katrina hurricane and flooding of New Orleans. The first of the three novels, “Natchez Burning,” set the stage for the conflicts carried on in this book, with Penn Cage, the mayor of Natchez.

Penn, an attorney, is forced to defend his father Tom Cage on a murder charge in the slaying of Tom’s one time mistress and nurse in his father’s medical office. The nurse had moved out the area years ago after being raped by members of the Double Eagles, a terror group allied with the Ku Klux Klan. She lived in Chicago for many years and only came back when she was diagnosed with cancer so she could die where she grew up. The Double Eagle members and corrupt police accuse Tom of a mercy killing in order to ease her suffering.

Iles, although writing fiction, describes in detail the corruption existing in the area of the south under discussion. He indicates that Katrina forced many African Americans out of New Orleans when their homes were destroyed and powerful white groups plotted to rebuild the city in a different way. The plan only included more expensive homes and apartments in order to prevent the poorer Negros from returning. In addition white gangsters took the opportunity to assassinate their black rivals and take over their territory.

Touched on in the first book and brought out with more detail in this novel is the idea that the killings of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther king originated with the New Orleans mafia. Iles brings to bear a good deal of research into the John F. Kennedy murder. His knowledge of the ballistics, placement of individuals involved and planning describe a different scenario other than Lee Harvey Oswald as the sole assassin and sets up more of a conspiracy than originally thought.
Penn’s fiancee, Caitlin Masters, editor of a newspaper in Natchez owned by a group controlled by her father has her own part to play in bringing out facts and situations involved in the action. She meets and befriends the wife of an FBI agent investigating the John F. Kennedy killing’s New Orleans roots. Her friend is a world class news photographer and helps Caitlin with the development of the investigation.

The ending obviously sets up the third book coming in the trilogy. Iles writing is nothing short of mesmerizing and the over 800 pages flies by keeping the reader glued to the pages.

4/15 Paul Lane

THE BONE TREE by Greg Iles. William Morrow (April 21, 2015). ISBN 978-0062311115. 816p.

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Jim Born has been with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for so long he’s about ready to retire. So when he writes a police procedural, you can be sure it will be accurate. I’ve enjoyed all of his books and this new one is really terrific, especially if you like dogs.

Tim Hallett was a detective who got a little overzealous in his determination to find a missing child. He saved the child, but got booted from the detective squad. In a stroke of luck, he was paired up with a Belgian Malinois named Rocky as part of a new K-9 unit. Born really did his homework here, and I loved all the inside info on how these magnificent dogs are trained and treated.

When a teenager goes missing, the dogs (and their human partners) are called into action. They get led on a chase that is both devious and disturbing, especially for Hallett.

This is a fast paced story set in the wilds of south Florida, and I loved the occasional perspective from the dog. Another excellent read from this talented author.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SCENT OF MURDER by James O. Born.  Forge Books (April 7, 2015).  ISBN 978-0765378477. 304p.

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A thrill a minute legal novel written by a practicing attorney. Events involved in a high profile trial are brought to life by Mitzner allowing the reader to understand that the outcome is not a cut and dried guilty or not guilty situation but a verdict brought about by manipulations on both sides.

Aaron Littman, a 51 year old highly successful lawyer, and the chairman of a large and very prestigious wall street law firm is approached to talk with Nikolai Garkov. Garkov is currently awaiting trial on charges of terrorism for manipulating the financial strings behind recent treasonous acts. He offers Aaron 100,000.00 dollars just to take the meeting. Nikolai is to be tried under the gavel of Judge Faith Nichols and knows that Aaron had an affair with her while acting as defense in a previous case. He tells Aaron that if he doesn’t take his case the affair will be made very public.

Events move swiftly, and the machinations of both the prosecuting attorney in the Garkov case and Aaron and his associates are presented very clearly. Clouding the events is the murder of Judge Nichols and the blame placed on Littman. The majority of the book is a masterpiece of insight into the legal world. The climax becomes somewhat contrived but does not spoil a great piece of legal fiction.

It is clear that Mitzner will continue writing, in all likelihood in a field headed by John Grisham. His characters are very well sketched out and become alive in his hands. An old axiom about methods that should be used by authors is to write about areas that they know about. This is a given in Mitzner’s novel and should continue as he goes forward in the literary aspect of his career.

4/15 Paul Lane

LOSING FAITH by Adam Mitzner. Gallery Books (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1476764245. 368p.

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Livy and Will have some problems in their marriage; Will had an affair and lucky Livy gets to meet the ex-mistress at Will’s holiday work party. She’s stressing about it and ignores her best friend Julia’s texts that night.

Livy and Julia have been friends for 18 years, since Livy’s sister Kara was murdered walking home from a college party. They have plans for lunch the next day but when Livy gets there, she finds Julia dead on the sofa. The police rule it a suicide but Livy isn’t buying it.

Then Livy meets Julia’s secret boyfriend, and they team up to try to figure out what really happened. They delve into Julia’s life, and Livy is shocked to learn that Julia was obsessed with Kara’s unresolved murder and had never given up trying to find her killer.

Interspersed throughout the book are memoir type chapters written by the murderer so we can see how he evolves into a serial killer. Almost every person in Julia’s life becomes a suspect at one point or another, but the ending is a bit of a stretch in this suburban UK nightmare.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

YOU CAN TRUST ME by Sophie McKenzie. St. Martin’s Press (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1250033994. 304p.