Hollywood Ending by Kellye Garrett Narrator: Bahni Turpin
Series: Detective by Day #2
Published by Dreamscape Media on March 17, 2020
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 10 hrs 19 mins
Pages: 312
Format: Audiobook
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Tinseltown's awards season is in full swing, and everyone is obsessed with dressing up, scoring free swag, and getting invited to the biggest awards shows of the year. But when popular Silver Sphere Awards publicist Lyla Davis is killed during a botched ATM robbery, the celebratory mood comes to an abrupt halt.
Dayna Anderson--an actress turned apprentice private investigator--uncovers the killer almost immediately. Unfortunately, what starts as an open-and-shut case turns out to be anything but. Lyla's murder was no robbery-gone-wrong. Someone hired the gunman to kill her. Diving back into the investigation, Dayna gets a backstage look at the worlds of gossip blogging, Hollywood royalty, and one of entertainment's most respected awards shows--all while trying to avoid her own Hollywood ending.
Hollywood Ending is a fun sequel to Hollywood Homocide, but I think would work as a stand-alone too. Dayna Anderson, used to be an actress and is now working on becoming a private investigator. The story is told from her point of view.
“You’d probably cast me in a group of black friends getting together for a fun vacation movie. I’d play the cute, annoyingly sweet girl currently dating the object of the main character’s affections.”
It’s award season in Hollywood and Dayna’s boyfriend, Omari, is up for one of the biggest awards for television, the Silver Sphere Award. When Omari narrowly misses being the victim of a fatal mugging after a pre-party, Dayna is drawn into the case, hoping for the reward money. Turns out the publicist who was killed was also secretly Anani Miss, a celebrity gossip columnist who has spilled plenty of secrets.
Dayna seems pretty casual, but she’s determined and clever. The book is filled with Hollywood geography, people characters, and attitude. The paparazzi, social media, and “show biz” are shown at their best and worst. It’s fun to have a sneak-peek into La La Land. Yes, some of the characters are stereotypical, but in a fun way. The plot was well-done, with several suspects and red herrings. I enjoyed it. It was a good mystery and had several laugh-out-loud moments. I hope the author eventually publishes the third in the series.
About Kellye Garrett
Kellye Garrett is the Anthony, Agatha, Lefty and Independent Publisher “IPPY” award-winning author of the Detective by Day series and the #ownvoices suspense novel Like A Sister from Mulholland Books. Her work has been featured on the TODAY show as a Best Summer Read and on several Best of the Year lists. Prior to writing novels, Kellye spent eight years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for Cold Case. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime and Pitch Wars, she is a cofounder Crime Writers of Color.
I am glad you reviewed this. I have been wondering about this series, and it seems worth a try.
It’s light and funny. I really liked it. It was just different enough from the typical cozy to make it stand out.
“You’d probably cast me in a group of black friends getting together for a fun vacation movie. I’d play the cute, annoyingly sweet girl currently dating the object of the main character’s affections.” Oh, Oh. I can see why Dayna’s more interested in being a PI than an actress!
She’s a fun character and has a great sense of humor about herself and Hollywood.