Part of Series
All clues indicate that someone is looking for a priceless cornucopia filled with jewels dating from the time of Marco Polo that was once in the possession of Mayo's sea captain father. Similarities to The Maltese Falcon draw Dashiell Hammett and his acerbic lady Lillian Hellman into the chase, and for a while it seems that everyone, from the washed-up silent film actress Karen Barrett to the greatest screen vamp of the twenties, Theda Bara, to studio mogul Samuel Goldwyn, has had his or her hands on the cornucopia. But then a murder is discovered, and another, and a third. Who wants the prize badly enough to kill for it? A bossy Italian contessa or her disgruntled lover? The proprietor of an antique shop or his bewigged "daughter" Nell? The assistant to Hollywood's trendiest interior designer? Samuel Goldwyn?? Once again Detective Herb Villon, his girlfriend, gossip columnist Hazel Dickson, and his assistant Jim Mallory star alongside the real celebrities in a glamorous story of murder, mayhem, and "such stuff as dreams are made on."
Author
George Baxt, the US playwright, scriptwriter and novelist, in New York City, USA. He began his career as a radio announcer, an actors' agent, and television scriptwriter. He claimed that as an actors' agent he threw James Dean out of his office because he needed a bath. George Baxt's career developed into scriptwriting cult horror films. He made a contribution to The Abominable Dr Phibes, although it was uncredited. His first novel A Queer Kind of Death, (1966), introduced the detective Pharoah Love who was the first in the genre to be both black and openly gay. The novel was very well received and marked the start of a new career in writing. Two further Pharoah Love novels soon appeared and were widely regarded as superior to the first. Nearly three decades passed before the final outings of Pharoah Love in two novels. Meanwhile George Baxt introduced the detective duo Sylvia Plotkin and Max van Larsen, but these were soon abandoned and several non-series novels were produced. Starting with The Dorothy Parker Murder Case, George Baxt then began to use his knowledge of Hollywood life by using celebrities as characters in a series of detective novels. He died following complications after heart surgery. Interesting obituary here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obi...
