August Publications

Retired Boston attorney and playwright William Prendergast takes deadly aim at Hollywood's Golden Age in his first novel, Forbidden Hollywood, an homage to classic noir mystery. A small-time hood begins to have second thoughts after his attempt to blackmail a stunning screen actress with a dark secret lands him in a nest of murder and bizarre sexuality. Author tour. (Cole Dixon [coledixon@msn.com], $13.95 paper 352p ISBN 0-9714739-2-7)

Making its first U.S. appearance is Sheila Pim's gently witty A Brush with Death (1950), another in Rue Morgue's Vintage Mystery series. Quick-tempered Irish artist Fergus Gandon seeks refuge from a poisoner at his sister's home in Dublin, but he finds only a temporary respite from whoever is trying to kill him. (Rue Morgue [P.O. Box 4119, Boulder, Colo. 80306], $14 paper 160p ISBN 0-915230-49-6)