Hollywood Stuff: A Jane Wheel Mystery

Hollywood movie producer and owner of Bix Pix Flix Wren "Bix" Bixby watches collectibles seller Jane Wheel on a newsmagazine show discuss her solving the murder of Johnny Sullivan. Bix thinks Jane's tale as a part-time amateur sleuth would make a great movie so she calls Jane, who agrees to have her investigation filmed. Jane and her best friend media curious Tim Lowry fly to California to consult with Bix who knows her college boyfriend, Jeb Gleason; he and Bix are old buddies too. While discussing Jane's scarecrow investigation, an explosion occurs in a prop room injuring Bix, who is taken to a nearby hospital. Not long afterward someone stabs the person Jane assumes is Bix's business partner at a flea market they both were visiting. Unable to resist, Jane investigates the crime wave devastating the Indie studio. Not so ironically in her fifth appearance, Jane is at her best sleuthing for a Hollywood star, a collectible or a killer rather than playing the Hollywood scene where she seems more like a fifth wheel. Though the Los Angeles based part of the cast comes across less than two dimensional Jane is terrific whether she seeks Danny DeVito, a bargain, or a murderer. Harriet Klausner

This is new territory for Jane. Literally. The action takes place in Hollywood, with Tim and Detective Oh included. Jane's detective skills are improving, and even though her picker's instincts are thriving, she manages mostly on her own to get to the bottom of this convoluted tale. Old friends and memories conspire to trip her up, but Jane pulls through. Her recall of Oh's instructions repeatedly guide her. This is a great read, and the change of locale is great, the seduction of LA offers new temptations for Jane. I'm glad she went, but I'm glad too she is going home. This is a great addition to the Jane Wheel series.