"As England swelters during the hottest summer on record, Posie Parker, Private Detective, is summoned to Worton Hall Film Studios, where she steps into the heart of a sinister new mystery. Silvia Hanro, the famously beautiful movie star, has received death threats alongside her morning coffee, and Posie is tasked with protecting her. Aided by her good friends Lady Dolly Cardigeon and Chief Inspector Richard Lovelace, Posie soon realises that behind the cheap canvas sets and the dreamy glamour of Worton Hall Studios a dreadful secret lays buried, and traitors lurk everywhere."--Amazon.
From the bestselling author of the Bone Collector novels, soon to be an NBC series Twenty-one-year-old Rune is an aspiring filmmaker, but so far her only break has been scoring a job as an underpaid production assistant in Manhattan. Still, she's always on the lookout for the perfect topic for her own film—and she thinks she's found it when she witnesses the bombing of a triple-X movie theater in Times Square. Rune's got a great hook for her documentary: She plans to film it through the eyes of Shelly Lowe, the porn star whose movie was playing at the theater when it exploded. But just hours after Rune films a poignant Shelly reflecting on her dreams of becoming a serious actress, a second bomb silences the beautiful film star forever. Was Shelly in the wrong place at the wrong time—or was she the bomber's target all along? Rune vows to find out the truth behind the death of this blue movie star. But as she struggles to finish shooting her film, Rune's labor of love may be her final masterpiece—as a shooting of a more lethal kind threatens to write an ending to this story that no one wants to see. . . .
It's one of the most brutal unsolved murders in the Elvis Presley universe - the 1981 slaying of his beautiful "Blue Hawaii" co-star, Jenny Maxwell. It was reported at the time that the murder was part of a botched robbery in Beverly Hills, but that's not at all what happened. Forty years after the murder, thanks to this book, it's finally been solved. Who killed Jenny Maxwell, and why? For the first time, the truth is revealed in "Murder of an Elvis Girl: Solving the Jenny Maxwell Case," And the truth is incredible.Jenny Maxwell was one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood in the early 1960s, and she became best known as an Elvis Girl, playing the bratty Ellie Corbett in Elvis Presley's classic 1961 film, "Blue Hawaii." The performance made her one of the most memorable Elvis Girls ever and endeared her to generations of the King's fans. She appeared in dozens of TV shows, as well - everything from "Bonanza" and "My Three Sons" to "Father Knows Best" and "The Twilight Zone." In the 1960s, Jenny Maxwell's career was red-hot. She was friends with Sharon Tate and Peggy Lipton and dated a slew of young Hollywood stars.Off the screen, though, her personal life was a mess. She married film director Paul Rapp when she was just seventeen and became a mom at nineteen. Her marriage and her motherhood fell apart thanks to a lifestyle of Hollywood parties, drugs and sex. In an effort to win back her son, she quit Hollywood altogether in 1968 and married Ervin "Tip" Roeder, a high-powered and mobbed-up Los Angeles divorce attorney who was twenty years her senior. Their marriage was a rocky one, and by the time 1981 came around, they were separated and heading for divorce. Tip Roeder was at Jenny's side that fateful day in Beverly Hills, as they were both gunned down by the assassin outside her condo."Murder of an Elvis Girl" tells the amazing Hollywood life story of a true Elvis legend. Jenny Maxwell shared the screen with the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Robert Conrad, Joey Bishop. Bob Hope and Joan Crawford. She rubbed elbows with Frank Sinatra and Sandra Dee. And biggest of all, she was an Elvis Girl.The story of how this book came about is just as incredible. "Murder of an Elvis Girl" is written by Buddy Moorehouse, a longtime journalist from Michigan who is actually Jenny's first cousin, once removed (his grandfather and her father were brothers). The family had always been told that Jenny's murder was part of a botched robbery, but they never quite believed that, so Buddy embarked on a journey in 2019 to learn the truth of what really happened to their famous cousin. He eventually struck pay dirt when he found the detective who had investigated - and solved - the murder.This is the untold story of a long-forgotten Hollywood legend - how she lived, how she loved, and how she died.
Considered by many to be the most beautiful woman of her generation, Sharon Tate remains a fascinating pop icon and a poster child for the 1960s. What struck most about Sharon was her gentle nature and the sheer perfection of her face, but she was far more than just a beauty. The few films she made during her brief career, including Valley of the Dolls, Eye of the Devil, and The Fearless Vampire Killers, have secured her position as a Hollywood legend. Over forty years since her last film, Sharon's spirit and charisma lives strong in the memories of those who knew her best, and her style continues to inspire the worlds of fashion, beauty, art, and film. Sharon Tate: Recollection is a one-of-a-kind celebration of Sharon's life and career, her influence as a fashion icon throughout the world, and in effect presents a sociological portrait of the 1960s -- its youth culture, the sexual revolution, the rise of independent cinema, and Hollywood's changing studio system. In this impressive photo book, Sharon Tate's story emerges through quotes and short essays -- recollections -- by her sister, Debra Tate, as well as by those who knew and have been influenced by her. What emerges from these pages is a stunning tribute to an unforgettable life. Highlights include: A foreword note by Sharon's husband Roman Polanski. An introduction and remembrances by Sharon's sister Debra Tate. Previously unseen childhood photos from the Tate family album. Original quotes and recollection essays written specially for this book by Jane Fonda, Kelly Osbourne, Bert Stern, Michelle Phillips, Patty Duke, Lee Grant, Elke Sommer, Joan Collins, Viva, Tony Scotti and Trina Turk. Retrospective quotes by Truman Capote, Diana Vreeland, Richard Avedon, Dominick Dunne, Warren Beatty, Mia Farrow, Orson Welles, Barbara Parkins, George Harrison, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas. Rare and classic photographs by David Bailey, Milton Greene, Philippe Halsman, Shahrokh Hatami, Terry O'Neill, Peter Basch, John Engstead, Peter Brün, Neal Barr and Jean Jacques Bugat. Never-before-seen or published images of Sharon in the classic film Valley of the Dolls, digitally reproduced from their original negatives and transparencies specially for this book by the 20th Century Fox archive.
In this star-studded sequel to Murder at the Universe, Daniel Edward Craig pokes good-humored fun at the celebrity-crazed Los Angeles culture. Dedicated hotelier Trevor Lambert takes a job at Hotel Cinema, a multi-million dollar rejuvenation of an Old Hollywood motor inn. It's a fabulous opening party until Tinseltown's hottest star, Chelsea Fricks, takes a fatal dive from her penthouse balcony. Was it a reckless publicity stunt or did fame drive her to suicide? Chelsea's stab wounds tell another story. Suddenly Hotel Cinema is the setting of a hilarious Hollywood murder mystery, starring Chelsea's former pit bull publicist; a star-struck detective; tasteless tabloid reporters; and Trevor's incompetent boss, who breaks every rule in the hotel handbook. Cristal champagne is flowing. Business is booming. But when the hotel staff are targeted as murder suspects, the party turns into a publicity nightmare.
The bestselling author of The Hot House once again combines the facts, the real people, and the location itself into this true story, a wide-ranging portrait of the interplay of race, sex, and justice in the American South, made all the more real because it takes place in the same small Alabama town that was the fictional "Maycomb" in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Optioned for film by MGM. Photos.
New York Times Bestseller • Edgar Award winner for Best Fact Crime The Day of the Locust meets The Devil in the White City and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry. By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies—including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now. In a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime—a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate. A true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, Tinseltown is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers—and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.
Once more we meet the inimitable Inspector Albert V. Tretheway and his colleague, Constable Jonathan (Jake) Small, in the Canadian city of Fort York in 1939. Pranks begin when Tretheway's beloved bowler hat disappears. Three weeks later Tretheway and Jake investigate a nervous neighbor's report about an anonymous phone tip that her long-dead husband is in her garage. They find instead a live horse wearing Tretheway's missing bowler. The pranks escalate, and only Tretheway connects them and surmises they are movie-inspired. The guessing game begins. Which movie is next? When the fourth prank involves a pre-dug grave, the Hindu Goddess Kali and the murder of a popular Bugle-Major, Tretheway spearheads a chase, cerebral and physical, through more movie murder adventures to a fiery spectacular finale.
For more than eighty years, the famous unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, the legendary bisexual film director, has generated debate and controversy. Now, best-selling author Charles Higham has solved the crime. Higham uncovers the corruption and intrigue of Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties—and the film industry moguls’ complete domination of the city’s authorities. When it was discovered that a famous star of the day had probably killed Taylor, a massive cover-up began—from the removal of crucial evidence to the naming of innocent people as killers—which has continued until now to protect the truth. Murder in Hollywood goes beyond the killing to unearth unknown details about the life of Taylor before his arrival in Hollywood, as well as the stories and histories buried by the crooked authorities and criminals involved the case. The author’s exclusive interviews with the culpable star, his unique possession of long-vanished police records, and the support of the present-day Los Angeles county coroner—who examined the evidence as if the murder had taken place now—have ensured a hair-raising thriller. Charles Higham successfully presents the most plausible and convincing solution yet to the mystery. In the process he paints a vivid portrait of Hollywood in the 1920s—from its major stars to its bisexual subculture. The result is a compelling answer to a long-standing mystery and a fascinating study of a place, and an industry that, as today, let people reinvent themselves. Murder in Hollywood is more extraordinary than any crime of fiction and more exciting than any action adventure movie.
The first major Katharine Hepburn biography independent of her control reveals the smart, complicated, and sophisticated woman behind the image Onscreen she played society girls, Spencer Tracy's sidekick, lionesses in winter. But the best character Katharine Hepburn ever created was Katharine Hepburn: a Connecticut Yankee, outspoken and elegant, she wore pants whatever the occasion and bristled at Hollywood glitter. So captivating was her image that she never seemed less than authentic. But how well did we know her, really? Was there a woman behind the image who was more human, more driven, and ultimately more triumphant because of her vulnerability? William J. Mann—a cultural historian and journalist, a sympathetic admirer but no mere fan—has fashioned an intimate, often revisionist, and truly unique close-up that challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate. Previous biographies—mostly products of friends and fans—have recycled the stories she hid behind, taking Hollywood myths at face value. Mann goes deeper, delivering new details from friends and family who have not been previously interviewed and drawing on materials only available since Hepburn's death. With affection, intelligence, and a voluminous knowledge of Hollywood history, Mann shows us how a woman originally considered too special and controversial for fame learned the fine arts of movie stardom and transformed herself into an icon as durable and all-American as the Statue of Liberty.
