Dead West: A Novel

Beverly Mayer asks Nils Shapiro of Stone Arch Investigations to find out if her grandson, Ebben Mayer, is throwing away his inheritance from his father on a questionable show-business venture. This seemingly simple task takes Minnesotan Nils to Los Angeles. There, he attends the funeral of Juliana Marquez, Ebben’s fiancée, and quickly learns that Ebben is indeed investing in the movie business, just as Beverly feared.

His task accomplished, Nils is free to return to Minnesota…except for his gut feeling that Juliana was murdered. His investigation obliges Nils, a film-industry innocent, to sort his way through the glamor, the snobbery, and the skullduggery of Hollywood’s screenwriters, producers, and agents, several of whom find their way onto his list of suspects. With the help of a six-foot, seven-inch former football player, Nils follows a money trail to the murderer, relying occasionally on hunches but mostly on clever detecting.

The story’s ending is the least satisfying part of the book, but the witty dialogue and the lively descriptions of the locations, action, and characters along the way more than compensate for it and make Dead West>/em> a highly enjoyable read.