Private-investigator-to-the-stars Riley Fitzhugh finds himself caught up in the case of a missing Hollywood beauty—and a stolen Monet—in a 1930s hard-boiled caper as deadly as it is delightful.
Hollywood, 1934. Prohibition is finally over, but there is still plenty of crime for an ambitious young private eye to investigate. Though he has a slightly checkered past, Riley Fitzhugh is well connected in the film industry and is hired by a major producer—whose lovely girlfriend has disappeared. He is also hired to recover a stolen Monet, a crime that results in two murders … with more to come.
Along the way Riley investigates the gambling ships anchored off LA, gets involved with the girlfriend of the gangster running one of the ships, disposes of the body of a would-be actor who assaults Riley’s girlfriend, and meets an elegant English art history professor from UCLA who helps him authenticate several paintings.
Living at the Garden of Allah Hotel, Riley meets and assists many Hollywood screenwriters, who frequent the hotel bar. Incidentally one of these gents, whose nom de plume is Hobey Baker, might actually be F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Evoking the classic hard-boiled style, The Monet Murders is a charmingly cozy murder mystery by a novelist whose “lucid, beautifully written books are a pleasure to read” (Wall Street Journal).
"One of the best acid tests of an introductory book...is that the text allow the reader to learn an important skill independent of the illustrations. Fly casting is very difficult to teach in person, and even more so in print, yet this book contains the best, the most interesting, and the most effective introduction to fly casting I have ever read. I think Terry puts the emphasis in the right places...he doesn't neglect entomology, but he devotes twice as many words to trout behavior, a far more interesting and useful pastime if you must introduce a scientific bent into your fishing. If this is your first fly fishing book, you are very fortunate, you're starting off on the right track. If you've read others before, I think you'll agree with me that you wish this had been your first." --Tom Rosenbauer.
