Part of Series
New Year's Eve, 1931: Marlene Dietrich, as the reigning queen of Hollywood, sees fit to throw a royal bash in order to show off her legendary legs - and her secret-recipe potato pancakes. Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, and Jean Harlow are only a few of the luminaries who grace Marlene's star-studded guest list, and an astrologer's warning of danger serves only to heighten the Blue Angel's spirits. The only danger Marlene foresees avoiding is Groucho Marx after a bit too much revelry. The danger, however, centers upon the astrologer herself, who upstages her hostess with a dire prediction about a new world war - and is subsequently murdered. But while death may be a show-stopper in some houses, it makes Marlene a detective for the prosecution. Marlene is convinced that the culprit lies among the astrologer's clientele of show-biz greats and political heavies, and with Dietrich determination, the screen siren takes on Hollywood gossips, European power brokers, and Nazi sympathizers in order to find a star-crossed killer. In the barbed and wickedly witty style for which he is known, George Baxt has brought Marlene Dietrich to life in all her riveting charm, lively humor, and hausfraulich love of cooking.
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...
