Abbi Waxman's quick-witted seventh novel, One Death at a Time, mixes a cracking good mystery with movie-studio politics and a pair of alcoholics who discover that murder can be an excellent distraction from booze--or what drives them (back) to drink.
Natasha Mason meets actress and ex-con Julia Mann at a 12-step meeting for recovering alcoholics and quickly becomes Julia's assistant and her sponsor. When she's accused of murdering her former lover, Julia enlists Mason to help clear her name, which becomes even more urgent after a second death occurs. As the press draws connections between Julia, the murders, and a decades-old "curse" connected to Julia's breakout movie, Mason finds herself enjoying this wild ride through the glitter and grit of Los Angeles, Calif. Her new job comes with plenty of risk, but it just might help her stay on the wagon--for now.
Waxman (Adult Assembly Required; The Bookish Life of Nina Hill) marshals a cast of L.A. archetypes: an ingenue actress, an egotistical producer, a burlesque club owner and her maybe-a-mobster business partner. Meanwhile, Julia enlists a quirky team of unorthodox sleuths to dig into the case. While dodging both cameras and the cops, Mason and Julia must prove Julia's innocence, stay away from the booze, and avoid killing each other out of sheer frustration. With outsize egos, vintage gowns, high-speed car chases, and sarcasm as dry as a gin martini, Waxman's plot is a clever balance of Hollywood illusion and classic whodunit, spiked generously with humor and heart. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams