‘Death Unscripted’ by Marni Graff

Published by Bridle Path Press,
31 July 2015.
ISBN: 978-0-99082872-3(PB)

Trudy Genova RN is thrilled with her new job working on set for a movie studio as a medical consultant. Gone are the days of bedpans and sick.  Trudy is surrounded by glamour.  Of course, there is always a fly in the ointment of the perfect job. In this instance it’s having to repel the overtures of the male stars who think they are God’s gift to women.  Unfortunately, the stars have a certain amount of sway with studio bosses’ so Trudy has to walk a careful path as she rejects the advances of the lead actor on a hospital soap drama for the umpteenth time.  It is regrettable for Trudy that following a rather public rejection said leading actor dies on set.

The case is assigned to NYPD Detective Ned O’Malley who clearly has Trudy down as number one suspect.  Considerably unnerved, Trudy enlists the aid of her best-friend Meg Pitman, production assistant on the soap, to help her prove her innocence.  Sleuthing matters do not go to plan and Trudy finds herself in more hot water with Ned O’Malley.

The first-person narration is by Trudy, so we are privy to her thoughts and fears as the investigation progresses and things begin to look blacker and blacker for her.  Trudy’s narration is interspersed by 3rd person narration of Detective Ned O’Malley.

Trudy discovers that there are many secrets among the cast that provide motives for the murder and thus the suspects abound.  As Trudy tries to make sense of what she has learned, another murder turns everything on its head. The story twists and turns with a most dramatic and unexpected outcome.

A thumping good whodunit that kept me guessing to the end. I loved Trudy and do hope we see more of her. Also, more of Detective Ned O’Malley who can investigate me any time.  Most highly recommended.
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Reviewer Lizzie Sirett

Marni Graff is the author of the Nora Tierney mystery series, set in the UK. She is also co-author of Writing in a Changing World, a primer on writing groups and critique techniques. A member of Sisters in Crime, Graff runs the NC Writers Read program in Belhaven and founded the group Coastal Carolina Mystery Writers. She has also published poetry, last seen in Amelia Earhart: A Tribute; her creative nonfiction has most recently appeared in Southern Women’s Review. Her latest book is Death at the Dakota: A Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery."  

http://auntiemwrites.com/