Imitation of Death

In Crane’s seductive second contemporary mystery featuring Hollywood realtor Nikki Harper (after 2011’s The Bad Always Die Twice), Nikki, child of iconic silver screen star Victoria Bordeaux, finds herself unwittingly drawn back into the world of amateur sleuthing when spoiled man-child Eddie Bernard turns up dead in the alley behind her mother’s Beverly Hills mansion. Plunged in Eddie’s chest are pruning shears belonging to the Harper family’s gardener and trusted friend, Jorge Delgado. Convinced of Jorge’s innocence, despite having witnessed a recent argument between the hot-headed Jorge and a gun-wielding Eddie in her mother’s driveway, Nikki sets out to find the real killer. She soon learns that Eddie had lots of enemies, a surprising number of whom attended a party at his home the night he was murdered. Crane, herself a realtor and daughter of actress Lana Turner, clearly has fun playing with established mystery tropes and upsetting expectations. Fans of entertaining light fiction are in for a treat. Agent: Evan Marshall, the Evan Marshall Agency. (Sept.)