Fatal Vacancy

Life as a hotel manager is never easy, but add a Hollywood premiere movie party and Maisie Swenson's life is turned upside down. In Fatal Vacancy by CeeCee James, a stunt goes terribly wrong at the party. The worst news is it isn't the stuntman who is dead, it's David Beck, the director of the movie.

Naturally there are plenty of suspects - the stuntman who knew David "when," the leading lady Lulu Montgomery, saver of the rainforest or is it a front? Factor in the handsome leading man Brendan Tucker and the stuntman no one likes. Mix in the rising star rumored to be having an affair with the director and blend in the ex-wife who is thought to be the brains behind the movies and wait for the explosion.

Sure enough on the night of the premiere all eyes are focused on the dark figure on roof of the hotel wearing the mask of the Dragon Rider, the hero of the movie. Using two giant suction cups the figure makes his way down the wall of the building. At first he appears to lose control, dangling by one hand, then he regains control only to plunge silently to the red carpet below.

To the shock of those in attendance, the dead body is identified as the director David Beck, not the stuntman. 

When Maisie's police officer friend Kristi Bentley is accused in the newspapers of being star-struck during the accident, Maisie knows this is untrue and unfair. She plunges into the investigation.

The more she digs the more suspects she finds. Not many people were fans of Director David Beck.

At this time of year when it is freezing and below zero up north, it's always fun to read a book that takes place in some warm climate. Fatal Vacancy provides you with a warm location and a tricky mystery.

For an review of another CeeCee James mystery, click here.