Renee Patrick is the pen name for wife/husband team Rosemarie and Vince Keenan, creators of the  Lillian Frost/Edith Head mystery series. Commencing with Design for Dying, the pair has created a five (so far) volume series focusing on Lillian, a young woman who arrived in Hollywood with dreams of stardom but settled somewhat happily on becoming the social secretary to wealthy inventor Addison Rice and his wife, as well as best buddies and partner in mystery solving with Paramount’s head designer, the famous Edith Head. The books are a delight! I haven’t read the first volume, but I have enjoyed the four subsequent ones.
In the second book, Dangerous to Know, Lillian and Edith are tasked by none other than Marlene Dietrich to find a young German expat friend who has mysteriously disappeared. This plot reflects two of the many pleasures in this series: brief as well as extended cameos by some of the most interesting players in late 1930s Hollywood and a deft intertwining of mysteries of murder,  espionage, corruption (police and studio) with actual contemporary crises and scandals. Some of my favorite “star” turns were the down-to-earth irreverence of Barbara Stanwyck, the flamboyant mischievousness of Orson Welles, and the puckish snap of Billy Wilder. Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, and Paulette Goddard are amongst the others who have their turns. And sparks fly when Lillian’s boss makes the mistake of deciding to take acting lessons on alternate days from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, especially the day dates get mixed up! It’s a diva a bloodbath! Book four, The Sharpest Needle, centers on a blackmail plot against Marion Davies that Edith and Lillian must pick apart, including a trip to William Randolph Hearst’s grandiose San Simeon estate, with a re-occurring fifth columnist in the series skulking sinisterly into the mix. The writers keep popping the name of my favorite, Joan Bennett, into the texts, making me wonder if my Joanie is going to make an appearance at some point.
More important than guest stars are the leads and their supporting players. I really like Lillian Frost , emigré from Flushing. At first she’s a bit out of her depth in this strange new world, but she grows savvier and more confident with the subtle guidance or Edith and her own ability to adapt New York street smarts to survive this gilded world peopled by Nazi fifth columnists, crooks and crooked politicians, and egoists. Edith Head is portrayed much as I remember her from seeing her on television and on film, steady, smart, low key, but strong and acerbic of wit – with a pinch of warmth when deserved. The experienced mentor and the fast wising-up new comer make a crack pair at snooping undercover, questioning and cajoling secrets, drawing on connections to put the kibosh on blackmail, terrorists plots, art theft, and murder – amongst other felonious endeavors.
 Playing major supporting roles are love interests for Lillian, her on-again-off-again detective boyfriend Gene Morrow, whose shadowed past comes to the fore in Script for Scandal, and Simon, a WWI vet who’s scarred inside and out and is definitely not all he initially appears to be. Then Lillian also has lots of gal pals, though some not so palsy that she can trust them, like columnist Kay Dambach. There’s also the aforementioned fifth columnist who always seems to have a devious and vicious hand in some sinister plot in various volumes. Characters, often only minor early in the series, may rise to prominence, then die out (literally as well as figuratively) as the series progresses through the five books.
I also particularly enjoy how our authors can describe fashions, food, landscapes, entertainment naturally and evocatively in order to recreate the vibrant, even discordant, ambiance of late 1930s Hollywood, a playland where fun and exuberance are frayed by pre-war jitters and corrupt power.
If you love a good mystery, if you love those noiresque films and books from the golden age, if you like a smart and human female lead, if you like history blended smoothly with your story, this series will be a sure hit for you.
Image Credits
-Barbara Stanwyck image, Public Domain, Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barbara_Stanwyck-publicity.jpg (Paramount Studios original author)
-Edith Head image, Public Domain Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edith_Head_ca_1955.jpg
-Hollywood Postcard Image: Public Domain at Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Untitled_-_Large_Letters_(NBY_5623).jpg
-Cover art for Script for Scandal and The Sharpest Needle copyrighted to Severn House Publishers
|
Lillian Frost/Edith Head mystery series. Commencing with Design for Dying, the pair has created a five (so far) volume series focusing on Lillian, a young woman who arrived in Hollywood with dreams of stardom but settled somewhat happily on becoming the social secretary to wealthy inventor Addison Rice and his wife, as well as best buddies and partner in mystery solving with Paramount’s head designer, the famous Edith Head. The books are a delight! I haven’t read the first volume, but I have enjoyed the four subsequent ones.
Sharon Healy-Yang 
.jpg){kind=link}