Cast the First Stone

Starred review from April 3, 2017
Set in February 1962, Edgar-finalist Ziskin’s riveting fifth Ellie Stone mystery (after 2016’s Heart of Stone) takes the intrepid reporter from New Holland, N.Y., to Hollywood, Calif., to profile Tony Eberle, a New Holland native recently cast in his first film. Tony has disappeared with no explanation, however, and when the police find the body of the movie’s producer, he quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. With her own career at stake, Ellie races to solve the crime and prove Tony’s innocence. Her search is complicated by the machinations of a conniving female studio executive, whose own career hinges on concealing actors’ and producers’ unsavory activities. Ziskin’s depiction of the era’s everyday sexism, homophobia, and racism is pitch-perfect, and Ellie’s narration adds compassion and humanity to sensitive topics. Complex, richly drawn supporting characters—a crude but conscientious cop; Tony’s roommate, who prostitutes himself to help the actor’s career; their wickedly funny landlady; a middle-aged reporter struggling after a recent layoff—round out the cast. Agent: William Reiss, John Hawkins & Associates.

April 1, 2017
An unsought assignment sends reporter Ellie Stone from upstate New York to Hollywood in the rainy month of February 1962.New Holland doesn't send many natives to La-La Land, and Ellie's editor, Charlie Reese, thinks his readers will want to know how Tony Eberle is faring as the second lead in the monumental epic Twistin' on the Beach. The answer is not well at all: he's gone AWOL, Paramount has fired him from the picture, and he'll never eat lunch in this town again. Foiled in her attempt to get the easy story, Ellie (Heart of Stone, 2016, etc.) grits her teeth and goes after the tough one, which depends on her finding Tony when no one else can. At first there's little competition for the honor, because once he's been let go, Tony is the lowest of the low, and no one cares where he is. But the news that Twistin' producer Bertram Wallis has also disappeared along with the script he wrote for the film The Colonel's Widow makes Paramount fixer Dorothy Fetterman much more interested in tracking down Tony. And when Wallis turns up dead in a ravine outside his hillside house's deck, Sgt. John L. Millard, LAPD, joins the hunt. Ellie, who keeps swearing she just wants to meet William Hopper of Perry Mason fame, ends up nosing into every hiding spot in Los Angeles County in search of Tony, his girlfriend, April Kincaid, and that missing script. Her discovery of two out of the three leads to even deeper waters and the suspicion that everyone in Tinseltown is either gay or conspiring against her--except, possibly, for William Hopper. Ziskin's nice-but-no-nonsense hero is out seriously past her depth in these fleshpots, where, as she aptly notes, she can't trust a single person. Readers will end up rooting for her to get sent back to the East Coast, where people just murder each other.

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April 1, 2017

Reporter Ellie Stone heads to Hollywood to profile Tony Eberle, a local boy from upstate New York who's appearing in his first movie. Yet, Tony was fired for not appearing on set the same day the producer of the film is found murdered. Now he's disappeared, and Ellie is desperate for a story. Although a little naive when it comes to 1962 Hollywood, Ellie's savvy enough to track down a killer. Hollywood politics, sexual innuendo, a little humor, and a clever sleuth all combine in this fifth (after Heart of Stone) series adventure from Edgar Award nominee Ziskin.--LH

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