The Hollywood Blues

The Hollywood Blues  - the 6th volume in the L. A. Mysteries series was published today and is available in both soft cover and Kindle Editions -

The deaths of five young women, all of whom frequent the same dance club in Hollywood, are attributed to accidental overdoses of heroin until D.A. Althea Knight gets a tip from a confidential informant. 

Althea's investigation convinces her that a serial killer is responsible. Against the odds and with little backing from her superiors, Althea puts together a team to go undercover at The 80's, the club that is the hunting ground for a killer. 

How best to catch that killer? Create a temptation that he cannot resist. 

The Law of Attraction is best stated as "Like attracts like" but, in this case, Althea gambles that lightness draws darkness like a moth to the flame.  

The enticement is a woman that Althea feels is synonymous with light - Katie O'Hara. After all, Katie was the lure for Sam Spencer - The Movie Murderer. Perhaps she can bewitch another killer into a trap. 

Katie joins forces with Augie, a self-described "cholo from East L.A." who's been working undercover too long; her fellow San Pedro Blue John "Travolta" Travers and Sheriff's Deputy Vicky Darling to undertake a mission with a deadline.  

Althea's skeptical bosses have reluctantly granted her one week to find a man that they don't believe exists although Althea and her team are sure that,in an ironic twist of fate, the killer has accelerated his timetable to coincide exactly with the night that their mission will be terminated.

WRITERS OF BLACK SAILS - I HATE YOU!!!!

I love this show and I am not alone.

When I first heard that Starz planned to air a new show about Pirates created by Michael Bay, I think I may have laughed out loud.  Pirates?

But I watched and by the end of Season One - I had a favorite character - Charles Vane - played to perfection by Zach McGowan.  How does a native of Brooklyn convince us so completely that he is a pirate? He had it all - swashbuckling good looks, a voice to die for,  sex appeal to the nth degree.

When it appeared as though he may have died at the end of the season, I was heartbroken.  But he returned in Season Two and throughout that season, I crossed my fingers that he would live to see Season Three.

Things looked so dicey in Season Three, that I did some research on the real Charles Vane and learned that he died by hanging - in Jamaica - years after the events portrayed in the show.

What a relief - I thought.  By now, Vane was the character I longed to see in every episode.

Don't get me wrong - this show is worth watching for a variety of reasons.  It is amazingly original, all of the characters are true originals - Silver, Anne Bonny, Max, Billy, Jack Rackham.  You may notice that I did not include Flint.  For me, he is the least interesting character on the show.  They could have killed him and I wouldn't have missed him for a minute.

But they didn't.  They killed Vane. I ranted.  I raved.  I was inconsolable.  I started to hate Billy for not rescuing him.  I don't care if it was a good dramatic choice to move the story forward.  I want Eleanor to die a horrible death for her part in the whole thing.

I can't remember the last time I was so upset by the death of a character.  I even google searched for fan reaction but didn't find much.  Am I alone????

I hate the writers.  I hate whoever came up with this idea.

I hate it to the point where I feel like never watching the show again.

I will, of course, because it is that good.

But it will never be the same for me.