Murder at the Academy Awards (R): A Red Carpet Murder Mystery (Red Carpet Murder Mysteries)

As the Queen of the Red Carpet Joan Rivers has been eyewitness to Hollywoods most heinous crimes (okay so theyre fashion-related). And in this über-stylish mystery she enlists her no-holds-barred slightly blonder literary counterpart Maxine Taylor to solve a crime of a different sort. When a gorgeous young actress dies on the Red Carpet some in Tinseltown call it bad publicity. Max calls it murder.. The Academy Awards®. Its Hollywoods biggest night and theres no star better equipped than the tart-tongued Max Taylor to hold court on the glamorous Red Carpet. Sharing the dish with her daughter Drew the calls-it-as-she-sees-it entertainer has parlayed this star-studded annual gig into televisions most-watched pre-show event. And tonight Max has landed a real coup—an exclusive interview with Halsey Hamilton a fabulous young paparazzi-trailed Oscar nominee. But not even Max whos seen her share of celebrity train wrecks is prepared for an incoherent Halsey straight out of rehab to stumble up to the mic slur a few cryptic words and drop dead at the hem of Maxs stunning Michael Kors gown. To Hollywood the starlets demise was tragic but inevitable. To Max it looks more like a perfectly calculated crime. After all she alone heard Halseys final whisper—a clue that leads Max to the pricey rehab clinic Wonders. With a weakness for nothing more disturbing than artificial sweeteners Max nonetheless goes undercover and embarks on a twelve-step investigation into murder. Once inside the luxury clinic Maxs list of suspicious players expands faster than the Jolie-Pitt family: Burke Norris a professional cad and Drews ex-fiancé; Halseys father who is still making money off his dead daughters fame; Halseys jealous younger sister; and Rojo Bernstein a tattooed karate hipster who knew the troubled fallen star much better than anyone suspected. Now its left to Max to unravel the sordid motives and find Halseys killer while upstaging an over-the-top Hollywood memorial service and funeral where the ill-fated actress was buried in of all things a tacky designer knockoff! And you thought the Oscars were all swag bags and Jimmy Choos? Hah! Honey its murder. In Murder at the Academy Awards® Joan Rivers delivers a very smart bracingly funny and pitch-perfect reflection of a Hollywood only she would dare to reveal—all seen through the eyes of an indomitable high-end amateur sleuth who isnt asking Who are you wearing? but rather Whodunit?