The Barnes & Noble Review It started with a case of writer’s block. Pretty, vivacious Cece Caruso turned to a life of crime after her divorce. But she’s neither breaking and entering nor running cons. Instead, she’s writing biographies of famous crime novelists, and now it’s Erle Stanley Gardner’s turn under Cece’s magnifying glass. While the creator of Perry Mason had an exciting life, including his own share of courtroom dramatics as a lawyer, it was his Court of Last Resort that fascinated Cece. The Court of Last Resort was a place where those wrongly convicted could petition Gardner to find enough evidence to reopen their cases. Cece was researching the Court in the hope it would give her enough material to propel her through her unfinished chapters. In a last-ditch effort to procrastinate—while pretending to work—she goes to visit an elderly prison inmate whose desperate appeal she finds misfiled and unexplored among the otherwise meticulously organized files of the Erle Stanley Gardner Archives. From there, it’s a surprisingly short step to working the long-neglected case, just to get a feel for what Gardner did so often. That’s the first step down a slippery slope that soon pulls Cece into a case closed 40 years ago, when a man was sent to jail for killing his wife. And that cold case suddenly turns hot when the murdered woman’s sister is knifed to death shortly after Cece interviews her. Inspired by the thought of Perry Mason at her side in her quest for justice, ex beauty queen Cece straightens her stocking seams (she’s a vintage clothing buff) and sets out to untangle mysteries, solve two murders, and finish her manuscript on time. —— “L.A. Times art critic Susan Kandel is sure to delight readers with her innovative fictional exploration of a fascinating facet of the history of crime fiction.” Sue Stone

"I spent my entire youth idolizing Nancy Drew. I'm pushing forty now, but some fantasies die hard." Besides her beloved collection of vintage designer clothing, there is nothing Cece Caruso cherishes more than her childhood memories of Nancy Drew. Her near obsession with the fictional teenage sleuth led her to become a professional biographer of classic mystery writers. And now that she's working on a book about Nancy's pseudonymous creator, "Carolyn Keene, " Cece's in heaven. At the L. A. home of another rabid Drew-ophile, Cece finds a treasure trove of useful memorabilia, including one unique and somewhat shocking collectible. Later she finds a dead body—and a puzzle that would sorely test the skills of her spunky girlhood heroine. Now she'll have to channel her former idol and unmask a murderer, and the killer may be coming for Cece next.

Los Angeles writer Cece Caruso is thrilled that her biography of the legendary Dashiell Hammett is headed for the big screen. Rafe Simic, the actor cast as the lead, may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the money she'll make tutoring him in the ABCs of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man should be good enough to feed Cece's addiction to vintage Yves St. Laurent. But when the dead body of one of Rafe's old flames is discovered—and neither the "facts" nor the hunky star's alibi add up—Cece can't help but ask questions. However, the twists in this case would confound Sam Spade himself. And in her zeal to win justice for the deceased, Cece might end up pulling the plug on the movie—if someone doesn't pull the plug on Cece first.

A new suspense-themed housing tract on the edge of the Mojave Desert is about to open, and who better to help promote the Cotswold-cozy development than mystery biographer extraordinaire Cece Caruso? For the grand opening weekend, Cece is staging a play featuring the beloved sleuth Miss Marple. Of course, everything goes wrong, including a leading lady who ends up dead. All is not well in Christietown; its secrets are as complicated as the truth behind Agatha Christie's real-life disappearance. The developer, an Englishman who claims to be Dame Agatha's descendent, has ruthless investors breathing down his neck. Meanwhile, Cece's got a wedding to plan, a baby shower to give, and an ex-husband who shows up on her doorstep with his fiancée and future mother-in-law. And when another body surfaces, the intrepid amateur sleuth knows she must play the famed detective for real—or suffer the same mysterious fate.

The indomitable Cece Caruso is back in Susan Kandel’s Dial H For Hitchcock. The vintage clothes enthusiast, biographer of masters of mystery, and amateur sleuth who has flourished her skills in Christietown and I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason now tackles a murderous puzzle full of twists, turns, and mistaken identities worthy of maestro Hitchcock himself. Readers will be Spellbound by this latest investigation by sometime-detective Cece, whom reviewers have called, “Delightful” ( Boston Globe ) and “A hoot” ( Denver Rocky Mountain News ). True mystery fans would have to be Psycho to miss Dial H For Hitchcock.