Download or read book Murder in Hollywood written by Charles Higham and published by Terrace Books. This book was released on 2004-11-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than eighty years, the famous unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, the legendary bisexual film director, has generated debate and controversy. Now, best-selling author Charles Higham has solved the crime. Higham uncovers the corruption and intrigue of Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties—and the film industry moguls’ complete domination of the city’s authorities. When it was discovered that a famous star of the day had probably killed Taylor, a massive cover-up began—from the removal of crucial evidence to the naming of innocent people as killers—which has continued until now to protect the truth. Murder in Hollywood goes beyond the killing to unearth unknown details about the life of Taylor before his arrival in Hollywood, as well as the stories and histories buried by the crooked authorities and criminals involved the case. The author’s exclusive interviews with the culpable star, his unique possession of long-vanished police records, and the support of the present-day Los Angeles county coroner—who examined the evidence as if the murder had taken place now—have ensured a hair-raising thriller. Charles Higham successfully presents the most plausible and convincing solution yet to the mystery. In the process he paints a vivid portrait of Hollywood in the 1920s—from its major stars to its bisexual subculture. The result is a compelling answer to a long-standing mystery and a fascinating study of a place, and an industry that, as today, let people reinvent themselves. Murder in Hollywood is more extraordinary than any crime of fiction and more exciting than any action adventure movie.

Download or read book Death by Hollywood written by Steven Bochco and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2009-08-17 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One evening, spying on his Hollywood Hills neighbours through his $4,000 electronic telescope, Bobby witnesses a beautiful woman making love to a handsome Latin actor called Ramon. As their pillow talk turns ugly, Bobby watches in horror as the woman appears to bludgeon her lover to death with his own acting trophy. Instead of rushing to the cops, Bobby decides to find out more about the events that led up to the crime, and to use the material for his next movie screenplay. However, when he sneaks into the actor's apartment, the discovery he makes changes his life forever. Empowered by his secret knowledge, Bobby is able to seduce the beautiful woman, while forging a unique friendship with Detective Dennis Farentino, the cop in charge of the investigation. Before long Bobby has dragged the detective, his wife, his lover, and his agent into a Hollywood fun-house hall of mirrors, where only the most manipulative player will survive.

Download or read book Hollywood Homicide written by Kellye Garrett and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2018 Anthony Award for Best First Novel Winner of the 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel Also a Lefty Award Winner and a Barry Award-Nominated Title The Surprise Hit of the Season! Actress Dayna Anderson's Deadly New Role: Homicide Detective Dayna Anderson doesn't set out to solve a murder. All the semifamous, mega-broke actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. So after witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she pursues the fifteen grand reward. But Dayna soon finds herself doing a full-on investigation, wanting more than just money—she wants justice for the victim. She chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes, and movie premieres, loving every second of it—until someone tries to kill her. And there are no second takes in real life. Praise: "[A] winning first novel and series launch...Garrett writes with humor and insight about the Hollywood scene. Readers will look forward to Day's further adventures."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A smart, sassy debut, introducing an appealing protagonist with amusing friends."—Library Journal (starred review) and Debut of the Month "Veteran TV writer Garrett uses her Cold Case experience to inform her debut, which sets up more than one charming character and isn't afraid to go cynical on all things LA."—Kirkus Reviews "Funny, lively characters populate this new Detective by Day series...this will be an entertaining entry into the amateur sleuth genre."—RT Book Reviews "Fun, smart, endearingly flawed, and impressively determined, Dayna Anderson is a heroine readers will fall in love with...I relished every unexpected twist and turn of this highly entertaining mystery!"—Kyra Davis, New York Times bestselling author

Download or read book Tinseltown written by William J. Mann and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller • Edgar Award winner for Best Fact Crime The Day of the Locust meets The Devil in the White City and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry. By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies—including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now. In a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime—a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate. A true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, Tinseltown is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers—and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.

Download or read book Murder on Hollywood Beach written by Carol Finizza and published by Light Messages Publishing. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amanda Beckwith is a classic underachiever who finally hits the jackpot when she marries Santa Barbara wellness guru Geoff Martin. She is fast becoming the envy of her hip, 30-something girlfriends when Geoff dumps her for Bree, his massage therapist. With nothing to show for her short marriage but a couple of minor brushes with the law and a tiny drinking problem, Amanda escapes to Hollywood Beach, 20 miles south of Santa Barbara, to focus on her career as professional organizer and “Messy Girl” blogger for a small local newspaper.When Bree is found murdered on the beach behind Amanda's house, her life spirals into chaos. Detectives single her out as a person of interest. With few people listening to her side of the story, Amanda resorts to her own devices to clear her name. As Amanda edges closer to the truth, her status shifts from person of interest to next victim.

Download or read book Bad Company written by Steve Wick and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P. This book was released on 1990 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each had what the others wanted, and before Roy Radin's decomposed body was found in a dry creek, Laney Jacobs, Robert Evans, and Radin, seemed destined for a successful partnership.

Download or read book Hollywood Horrors written by Andrea Van Landingham and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The name “Hollywood” conjures up fantastical images of bright lights, glamorous dreams, and impossible riches. From its humble beginnings as a ranch sprawling northwest of Los Angeles in the late 1800s, Hollywood has spanned lifetimes as a factory of dreams, a dazzling place where all things are possible. This collection of stories takes you on a journey into the golden age, illuminating the space between the airy fantasy and the gritty reality of life in Hollywood. In a transient city where nothing lasts, thousands of stories have taken place in their time here. From the offscreen debauchery of the silent era, to countless dramatic and mysterious deaths, to the sinister past lives of world-famous LA landmarks, vestiges of Hollywood’s checkered past can still be found all over the city. With generations of Tinseltown’s luminaries living and working under the sunny guise of paradisal prosperity, their real stories reveal the sordid underbelly lurking directly beneath the surface. A dangerous collusion between the studios, the press, the mob, and the LAPD forms an impenetrable behind-the-scenes network of corruption, power and control, where the truth is always up for sale. A network in which the most glamorous and well-known figures are merely players in this elaborate charade. It’s magical and gritty, it’s ugly and dirty, it’s the land of dreams...it’s Hollywood.

Download or read book Once Upon a Time in Hollywood written by Rod Lurie and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 1995 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this riveting, fast-paced account of the flip side of the Hollywood dream, investigative reporter Rod Lurie gives readers the keenest direction to date of the Hollyburbs, the seedy environs of Glitter City where small-time predators and prey dream of being players, only to find that they have been fleeced.

Download or read book Detour written by James Siegel and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How far would you go for someone you love? Would you sacrifice your beliefs? Would you commit a federal crime? Would you risk everything you have? James Siegel's electrifying thriller, Derailed, captivated readers with its emotionally charged twists and turns, racing up national bestseller lists and landing a major motion picture deal. The Washington Post called it "spectacularly inventive," and James Patterson raved, "James Siegel has arrived in high style." Now this acclaimed new master of suspense returns with the explosive story of a mother's love, a father's devotion-and an adopted daughter who turns their lives upside down. They want what every young couple wants: a child of their own. But Paul and Joanna Breidbart have been trying to conceive for five long years-a torturous process of failed medical procedures that nearly tore their marriage apart. When they finally decide to adopt, American agencies tell them they will have to wait years for their dream to come true. The couple agrees to fly to war-torn Colombia to adopt a baby girl. Paul knows all about risks. As an insurance executive, he routinely calculates the odds of dying in a plane crash or being hit by a bus. Yet all the accident statistics in the world can't prepare him for what is about to happen. Paul and Joanna receive the baby girl of their dreams and their world seems perfect. Then one afternoon they briefly leave their baby daughter alone with their new nanny. When they return, something is disturbingly different about their child...and suddenly everything Paul values is in jeopardy. Again, James Siegel gives us a tale of ordinary men and women thrust into extraordinary circumstances-and a novel that confirms him as one of today's most powerful writers of psychological suspense.

Download or read book Not Just Evil written by David Wilson and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1927, a schoolgirl’s murder leads to a Hollywood manhunt, a bizarre confession, and a landmark trial in this historical true crime. Twelve-year-old Marion Parker was kidnapped from her Los Angeles school by an unknown assailant on December 15, 1927. The killer dropped her off a few days later, fleeing with the ransom money before Marion’s father discovered she had been brutally murdered. When William Edward Hickman was hunted down and charged with the killing, he admitted to all of it, in terrifying detail, but that was only the start. Hickman’s insanity plea was the first of its kind in California, and it led to a national media frenzy. His lawyers argued that their client lived in a fantasy world, inspired by movies and unable to tell right from wrong. In a year when the first talking picture had just been released, the movie industry scrambled to protect itself from ruinous publicity. As scandals threatened the proceedings from the start, the death of a young girl grew into a referendum on the state of America at the birth of mass media culture. Author and private investigator David Wilson captures the maelstrom surrounding Marion Parker’s death in vivid detail. From the crime itself to the manhunt that followed, the unprecedented trial, and its dramatic aftermath, Wilson draws readers into this fascinating true account of the birth of the celebrity criminal.

Download or read book The Hot One written by Carolyn Murnick and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Subtitle in pre-publication: A memoir of friendship, sex, and murder in the Hollywood Hills.

Download or read book Hollywood Ending written by Kellye Garrett and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2018-08-08 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: And the award goes to... ...Dayna Anderson, the semi-famous actress turned PI who steps up her sleuthing swagger in this follow-up to breakout hit Hollywood Homicide, winner of the Lefty Award and the Agatha Award for Best First Novel! 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 celebrity publicist Lyla Davis is killed, the festive mood comes to an abrupt halt. Apprentice private eye Dayna Anderson thinks she's uncovered the killer. Unfortunately, what starts as an open-and-shut case turns out to be anything but. Diving deeper into the investigation, Dayna gets a backstage look at gossip blogging, Hollywood royalty, and one of entertainment's most respected awards shows—all while trying to avoid her own Hollywood ending. Praise for Hollywood Ending: A 2019 Lefty Award Nominee Named Best of 2018 by Suspense Magazine "Garrett continues to build an appealingly quirky crime-solving team."—Kirkus Reviews "Garrett, who wrote for TV's Cold Case, brings a smart insider's view of contemporary Hollywood to this lighthearted series."—Publishers Weekly "Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series will feel right at home."—Library Journal "Day's funny and determined, the sort of woman who really WOULD make a wisecrack when faced with danger."—Donna Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of the Meg Langslow series "Kellye Garrett's Hollywood Ending glitters with stardust. A fun, fast-paced mystery, it's definitely an A-lister."—Elaine Viets, author of the Dead-End Job mysteries "Fasten your seatbelts. A star is born!"—Nancy Martin, author of the Blackbird Sisters mysteries "An entertaining whodunit that provides readers a peek behind Hollywood's star-studded curtain."—Diane Kelly, award-winning author Praise for Hollywood Homicide: Winner of the 2018 Agatha Award for Best First Novel Winner of the 2018 Anthony Award for Best First Novel Winner of the 2018 Lefty Award for Best Debut Winner of the 2018 IPPY Gold Medal for Best First Book "[A] winning first novel and series launch...Garrett writes with humor and insight about the Hollywood scene."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A smart, sassy debut."—Library Journal (starred review) and Debut of the Month "Veteran TV writer Garrett uses her Cold Case experience to inform her debut, which sets up more than one charming character and isn't afraid to go cynical on all things LA."—Kirkus Reviews "Funny, lively characters populate this new Detective by Day series."—RT Book Reviews "Dayna Anderson is a heroine readers will fall in love with."—Kyra Davis, New York Times bestselling author "A non-stop, fun read with humor sharp as a stiletto heel."—Ellen Byron, USA Today bestselling author "Toss in a hit-and-run, a steep reward, and more one-liners than a Marx Brothers marathon and you've got Hollywood Homicide."—Catriona McPherson, Agatha Award-winning author "Has a heart as big as Los Angeles."—Rachel Howzell Hall, author of the LAPD Detective Elouise Norton series "Garrett has written a novel with great voice, characters, hilarious moments, and a lot of Hollywood."—BookRiot

Download or read book Severed written by John Gilmore and published by Amok Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition of the L.A. noir classic is released just in time to accompany the Brian De Palma film.

Download or read book Blood Cold written by Dennis McDougal and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The riveting true account of the 2001 murder of Bonny Lee Bakley, starring Robert Blake—the Hollywood icon accused of killing his wife in cold blood In May 2001 Bonny Lee Bakley was shot to death in a car parked on a dark Hollywood side street. Eleven months later Robert Blake—her husband, the father of her child, and the star of the classic film In Cold Blood and the popular 1970s TV detective series Baretta—was arrested for murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. Did Blake kill his wife? Did he hire someone to do the job for him? Award-winning journalist Dennis McDougal and entertainment-media expert Mary Murphy recount a real-life crime story more shocking and bizarre than any movie, chronicling the parallel worlds of Blake and Bakley, from their troubled youths to their sham of a marriage. By the late 1990s Blake was coasting on his past success. Bakley was a con artist who concocted online sex scams and victimized unsuspecting men, netting big money and dangerous enemies. In true noir style, McDougal and Murphy lay bare the stories of two violent people whose lives collided in a tragic tangle of abuse, betrayal, and love gone horribly wrong.

Download or read book Early Film Noir written by William Hare and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2003-08-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The name is French and it has connections to German expressionist cinema, but film noir was inspired by the American Raymond Chandler, whose prose was marked by the gripping realism of seedy hotels, dimly lit bars, main streets, country clubs, mansions, cul-de-sac apartments, corporate boardrooms, and flop houses of America. Chandler and the other writers and directors, including James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Jane Greer, Ken Annakin, Rouben Mamoulian and Mike Mazurki, who were primarily responsible for the creation of the film noir genre and its common plots and themes, are the main focus of this work. It correlates the rise of film noir with the new appetites of the American public after World War II and explains how it was developed by smaller studios and filmmakers as a result of the emphasis on quality within a deliberately restricted element of cities at night. The author also discusses how RKO capitalized on films such as Murder, My Sweet and Out of the Past--two of film noir's most famous titles--and film noir's connection to British noir and the great international triumph of Sir Carol Reed in The Third Man.

Download or read book Hollywood Kryptonite written by Sam Kashner and published by Saint Martin's Paperbacks. This book was released on 1997-12-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigates the death of television Superman George Reeves by a bullet in 1959, revealing his dangerous double life and the tale of jealousy and revenge that lie behind his alleged suicide in Los Angeles. Reprint.

Download or read book Bettie Page Hollywood Adventures on Murder Island written by Karla Pacheco and published by Dynamite Entertainment. This book was released on 2021-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stunning starlet Bettie Page has signed on to a new "tastefully sensual" fantasy film, shooting on a secluded tropical island. But when one of her cast members is MURDERED, everyone on the island is a suspect! WHO is the killer? WHAT is the film's producer hiding? HOW do they get off the island? You'll have to read to discover WHODUNNIT...!