Looking for a madcap, glamorous couple to help while away a few evenings? Look no further than detective-turned-mystery-writer Jake Donovan and the love of his life, Broadway-star-turned-movie-actress Laura Wilson. To meet them, you’ll have to travel back to the 1930s, but that’s not a problem. Just pick up a copy of All That Glitters, and you’ll immediately be whisked away.
Jake and Laura sprang from the mind of Michael Murphy, a Phoenix-based novelist and, I’m happy to say, a friend. Michael introduced Jake and Laura last year in The Yankee Club. This New-York-City-based novel saw the couple reunite after a two-year separation. Jake had hit it big with his Blackie Doyle novels, and Laura was the toast of Broadway. Jake gets pulled back into the detective business when his old partner, Mickey O’Brien, gets killed. While investigating Mickey’s death, Jake and Laura uncover and foil a presidential assassination attempt.
Michael Murphy
In the new novel, Jake and Laura have transplanted themselves to Los Angeles for Laura’s first movie role. In less than a day, one of the studio owner’s sons – and the script writer for Laura’s movie – ends up with a bullet in his head. Investigators find a suicide note, but Jake demonstrates that it’s a fake. Showing that no good deed goes unpunished, he soon finds himself as the prime suspect in the case. He has to solve the case to make sure he doesn’t end up in the chair.
As in The Yankee Club, Michael finds ways to weave in celebrities of the day, including Louella Parsons, William Powell, Al Capone and even Amelia Earhart. The book does a good job of capturing the glamour and ambience of Hollywood in the Prohibition era.
When you’re done with All That Glitters, you can sign up for Wings in the Dark, due out in July. This time, Jake and Laura head to Hawaii, where Earhart drafts them to help solve the murder of a local businessman. Get on board with this series. You’ll have a blast!
