Not long ago, Leah Randall fled the Northwest in favor of Hollywood after being part of a con (featured in THE IMPERSONATOR) and changed her name to Jessie Beckett. With a background in vaudeville, she’s now trying to turn legit, working as a script girl for Fairbanks Pickford Studio. It’s an exciting time, right on the verge of color pictures and possibly even movies with sound!

Naturally, Jessie wants to be a part of it. Of course, nothing goes easy for her, as she becomes embroiled in a murder mystery early on, through no fault of her own. The local cops watch her every move with suspicious eyes, convinced that she knows more than she’s letting on, and fairly so. In fact, she does harbor some secrets, but those are best left covered up. Her boss, Douglas Fairbanks, and his wife, Mary Pickford, would like nothing more than to see the murders solved quickly, and Jessie seems to have a nose for that sort of thing. Trouble is, sticking that nose into the cases puts her squarely in the midst of danger.

"SILENT MURDERS is loads of fun, taking its readers back in time to experience the heyday of the silent film era.... It’s refreshing to get away from computers for a few hours, return to the days of gumballs and prohibition, speakeasies and police raids."

It all started when Jessie received an invitation to a posh party put on by big-time producer Bruno Heilmann. She was thrilled to be rubbing shoulders with famous personalities, really the who’s who of Hollywood. And she was even more thrilled when she met a woman there who knew her mother back when Jessie was just a child. But there wasn’t time to reminisce about all that at the party, so they agreed to meet the next day. Unfortunately, Heilmann and the woman were murdered during the night. What happened at that party that got two people killed? Scarier still, more partygoers were attacked in the subsequent days, and naturally the guest list began to panic. Now, Jessie is pretty sure she’s safe, but who can really be positive?

With the backing of Fairbanks and one LA cop on her side, Jessie follows her instincts --- darned fine ones, too --- to solve the question of whodunit. She has to rely on good old-fashioned legwork without the aid of what we take for granted: technology at our fingertips. As Jessie strives to unmask the killer, she chases leads around a Los Angeles of the jazz era, rushes through streets that had a pay phone on almost every corner, hustles through days working on black and white movies, and lives day to day with the fear of mobsters but still in a far more innocent world.

SILENT MURDERS is loads of fun, taking its readers back in time to experience the heyday of the silent film era. No cell phones, no Internet, no video games, but big old cars, gaudy make-up, and brazen women trying to break out of their age-old stereotyped roles. Hollywood was young and greedy, still trying to shape its reputation, yet already wild and heading down the road of drugs and scandal. It’s refreshing to get away from computers for a few hours, return to the days of gumballs and prohibition, speakeasies and police raids. Sit back and relax with this swell mystery.