Design for Dying: A Lillian Frost & Edith Head Novel

by Renee Patrick

Overview

Los Angeles, 1937. Lillian Frost has traded dreams of stardom for security as a department store salesgirl . . . until she discovers she's a suspect in the murder of her former roommate, Ruby Carroll. Party girl Ruby died wearing a gown she stole from the wardrobe department at Paramount Pictures, domain of Edith Head.

Edith has yet to win the first of her eight Academy Awards; right now she's barely hanging on to her job, and a scandal is the last thing she needs. To clear Lillian's name and save Edith's career, the two women join forces.

Unraveling the mystery pits them against a Hungarian princess on the lam, a hotshot director on the make, and a private investigator who's not on the level. All they have going for them are dogged determination, assists from the likes of Bob Hope and Barbara Stanwyck, and a killer sense of style. In show business, that just might be enough.

The first in a series of riveting behind-the-scenes mysteries, Renee Patrick's Design for Dying is a delightful romp through Hollywood's Golden Age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765381859
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/07/2017
Series:	Lillian Frost & Edith Head Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	500,450
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

RENEE PATRICK is the pseudonym for married authors Rosemarie and Vince Keenan. Rosemarie is a research administrator and a poet. Vince is a screenwriter and a journalist. Both native New Yorkers, they currently live in Seattle, Washington. Design for Dying is their first novel.

Editorial Reviews

"A champagne-flavored frolic of a first mystery set during Hollywood's golden age. This is sure to delight fans of old Hollywood and Turner Classic Movies." —Library Journal

"A beguiling champagne-cocktail-of-a-crime-novel. Supporting parts played by Billy Wilder, Barbara Stanwyck, and Preston Sturges will make every seasoned cinephile swoon. Design for Dying is a delight." —Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author

"Vibrant, stylish and crackling, Design for Dying is both a gift to devotees of Golden Age Hollywood and a mystery-lover's delight. It's a delicious cocktail, one you won't want to end." —Megan Abbott, bestselling author

"A delightful cocktail of a mystery - equal parts sweet, tart, and effervescent...a read covered in movie magic stardust." —Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times-bestselling author

“A complex environment for sleuthing replete with possibilities and an exciting sense of the glamorous, gossipy, and creative world of cinema’s golden age. The warm working relationship that develops between Lillian and Edith will leave readers eager to see more of their adventures.” –Publishers Weekly

“Design for Dying reads like a dream, one in which classic Hollywood does a dance with old-school crime fiction. It’s spiced with famous faces and features a beguiling newcomer, Lillian Frost, who's destined to be a star in her own right. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore—so it’s a good thing Renee Patrick is here to write ‘em.”—Eddie Muller, Shamus Award-winning author of The Distance and host of Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley

From the Publisher

02/29/2016
Set in 1937, Patrick’s upbeat, name-dropping debut starring real-life Hollywood costume designer Edith Head puts feminine cleverness, fashion sense, and social acumen front and center. The police suspect Edith and Lillian Frost, a department store salesperson and wannabe actress, in the murder of Lillian’s often opportunistic ex-roommate, Ruby Carroll, who’s found dead in a gown that turns out to have been stolen from the wardrobe department of Paramount Pictures, where Edith works. To clear themselves, Lillian and Edith seek to unwind the threads of Ruby’s final ruse. The interests of celebrities, socialites, and European royalty cross with those of a shady photographer, a club owner, and a boarding house landlady—to create both a complex environment for sleuthing replete with possibilities and an exciting sense of the glamorous, gossipy, and creative world of cinema’s golden age. The warm working relationship that develops between Lillian and Edith will leave readers eager to see more of their adventures. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2016
Lillian Frost was Miss Astoria Park in 1936. Her claim to fame included a trip to Hollywood for a screen test. One year later, Lillian works at Tremayne's department store as a sales clerk. When the body of Ruby Carroll, Lillian's former roommate, is found in an alley, the only clue is the Edith Head gown she was wearing, which was stolen from Paramount Studios. As the prime suspect in Ruby's death, Lillian gets pulled into the investigation with Head, who wants to protect her career from scandal. Also putting in appearances are Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Sturges, Bob Hope, and Billy Wilder. VERDICT Under the Patrick pseudonym, married coauthors Rosemarie and Vince Keenan (Down the Hatch) have written a champagne-flavored frolic of a first mystery set during Hollywood's golden age. Lillian is determined to make her own way, and Edith aims to take over Paramount's costume department. Both serve as independent and resolute sleuths. This is sure to delight fans of old Hollywood and Turner Classic Movies.

Library Journal

2016-02-17
Patrick, a fig-leaf pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team, debuts with a tale that entangles not-yet-famed costume designer Edith Head in a case of Hollywood murder. The road to Miss Head's acquaintance runs improbably through beauty queen-turned-shopgirl Lillian Frost, who's shocked to hear that her former roommate Ruby Carroll has been shot to death and additionally disconcerted when the LAPD's Detective Gene Morrow reminds her that although they'd quarreled and separated months ago, the two had met again quite recently when Ruby tried to inveigle Lillian into her scheme to borrow costumes from the Paramount wardrobe department, where Ruby had gone to work, and forget to return them. Lillian had indignantly refused, but there's clear evidence that Ruby had found another accomplice: the gown she was found dead in had been worn by none other than Gertrude Michael in The Return of Sophie Lang, and a suitcase of Ruby's Lillian discovers turns out to be full of clothing Edith identifies as Paramount's very own. Why was Ruby so intent on swiping outfits that could have been easily identified when she might have availed herself instead of the largesse of her upscale friends Armand Troncosa and Princess Natalie Szabo? That's an excellent question, and eventually Patrick provides an excellent answer—but not before Lillian and Edith have bonded over shared adventures, sartorial taste, and the travails of being a woman in 1937 Hollywood. Although the serenely levelheaded costumer designer gets to solve the mystery, Patrick often keeps her under wraps, and even the cameos by Gracie Allen, Bob Hope, Barbara Stanwyck, and Preston Sturges aren't an adequate substitute. Here's hoping the promised series will redress the balance.

Kirkus Reviews