VEGAS CAN BE MURDER

About the Book

It’s February of 1976. Harry, former actor agent, then literary agent, then private detective, is once again happily retired—going to the office daily, reading the trades, lunching at the Hamburger Hamlet, sparring with his secretary Bernice, and listening to his beloved opera recordings—until he gets a call from Las Vegas lounge singer Buddy DeMarco. A decade earlier, one of Harry’s writer clients had written Buddy’s jokes and patter which Buddy is still doing at the Las Vegas Hilton. Buddy is receiving threatening notes, each more ominous than the last, and he implores Harry to take the case. Harry hates Vegas and has no intention of taking this or any other case there, but he goes as a favor to Buddy, fully intending to say no. Before returning home, however, Harry in turn gets a threatening note, warning him not to get involved. Of course, Harry takes the case.

What follows is a colorful, often hilarious, frequently baffling, mystery as Harry goes down the rabbit hole list of suspects, each of them someone Buddy has seriously mistreated at one time or another. As the notes become more threatening, they know the clock is ticking before whoever is behind them follows through on the threats.

Taking place in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Vegas Can Be Murder features guest appearances by the likes of Liberace and Frank Sinatra, Bernice running amok in the casino, and Harry remaining doggedly on the case.

About the Author

This is Bruce Kimmel’s twenty-sixth book. In addition to the other twenty-five, Mr. Kimmel has written for film, television, and the stage, was a popular actor on TV all through the 1970s and early 1980s, and has directed for film, television, and the stage. He wrote, co-directed and starred in the hit cult movie, The First Nudie Musical. He co-wrote the original story for the hit 1998 film, The Faculty, which is about to get a remake. He also wrote and directed the acclaimed, award winning web series Sami, which is streaming on Amazon Prime. In addition to all that, Mr. Kimmel is a Grammy-nominated record producer, having produced over 180 albums. His record label, Kritzerland, has released over 400 CDs of theater and film music. He also has the longest-running daily blog in the history of the Internet, having never missed a day since late November of 2001. In his spare time, he can be seen wandering around aimlessly saying, “What spare time?”