Mystery in Hollywood - A Cassandra Mystery #3

It's been a bit since I read the second Cassandra Best mystery, so decided it was time to pull down the third book off my "to be read" stack and see whether it measures up to the previous books in the series.  I have been enjoying the series more than I anticipated, and I find the character is a bit of an in-betweener - somewhat in-between Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew.  She's not as perfect as Nancy Drew, but she's not quite as down-to-earth as Trixie Belden.  She's somewhere in the middle, hailing from a midwestern town, without the financial resources to just go taking off whenever she pleases to solve a mystery.  Hence, author Jennifer Austin provides her with a wealthy best friend (a/k/a Alexandra Bennett, whose name I still love and have to wonder if it comes from two of the main stars of Dark Shadows...), who is not only the source of the mysteries Cassandra loves to solve, but she also provides all the necessary finances for Cassandra to go where she is needed!

Mystery in Hollywood ... well, the title pretty much gives away everything you need to know about this one.  Cassandra Best (actually, for those who do not recall, it's Cassandra B. Jones, but she calls herself Cassandra Best when she's solving crimes!) is called out to Hollywood by her friend, Alex, who is there on assignment for her father's newspaper.  She is there to get a story involving rock superstar Rod Taggart, who is acting in his very first film - but if the accidents keep happening, it may also be his last!  Yes, it appears to be a case of sabotage, which apparently was already becoming a trope of mystery stories even back in the early 1990s.  Thankfully, the author does give it some interesting twists, because all of the "accidents" seem to be focused on Rod himself, making Cassandra and Alex wonder if someone is truly out to end the star's career.

At only 157 pages, it's not like we can have a lot of details, so sadly, we don't get a lot of in-depth description of the Hollywood sets and soundstages, nor of the majestic homes of the rich and famous; yet, the author does not leave out all details.  We do get some limited descriptions that do remind the reader just how "fake" the movie sets are - such as the styrofoam grave stones, the mock streets from various time periods, and the hustle and bustle of the crew working on a film.  Plus, with a shorter story like this, the action moves along pretty quickly - so we get overhead lights that fall down unexpectedly; poisoned tea; a prop gun loaded with real bullets; a warehouse set on fire; a near-drowning in a jacuzzi; and a stand-off where Cassandra has to prove just how good of an actress she can be.  As such, you can definitely say the story is a page-turner, as it keeps you moving from one chapter to the next, just to see what could possibly happen ... well, next!

And lest we forget about him, Peter Wentworth makes an appearance (albeit via telephone), when Cassandra calls him for aid in getting information about the rock star and his ex-girlfriend. I suppose the author wanted to keep Cassandra's love interest in the picture so that readers did not get the mistaken idea she might be falling for Rod Taggart or any of the other Hollywood types.  His appearances are basically plot devices used to provide Cassandra with the information she needs to move the mystery forward to its conclusion; although, without the internet and handy-dandy cell phones, I suppose Cassandra would have needed someone else to find the information, since it's not like she had easy access to a library while investigating the sabotage on the set.

Now, as those who recall my post about the second book in this series, Race Against Time, that book seemed to mirror elements regarding the stolen horse from Nancy Drew's 66th mystery by the same name.  Oddly enough, this mystery pulls elements from the same Nancy Drew book, only with regard to the movie being filmed.  Both mysteries deal with a horror movie being filmed; both stories have jealous ex-girlfriends; both cases involve sabotage; both tales have a deadly fire set by someone to cover their tracks; and both books have a famous individual (a cinematographer in the Nancy Drew story, a rock star in the Cassandra Best story) who helps move the mystery along.

Nancy Drew's Race Against Time was published in 1982, while this series was not published until 1990, so it is feasible that the author (or whomever created the outlines / plots for these books) may have read the Nancy Drew novel and some of those plot elements stuck in their mind.  Then again, it could be written off as mere coincidence, which we all know plays heavily into the children's mystery series world, so why not in real life as well?

 

On a final note, this book has a special thanks given to Robin Stevenson, just like the first book did.  At first I wondered if this was the same person as the author of the "Murder Most Unladylike" series that I read, but it turns out that author is Robin Stevens (less the "on" at the end).  So, not sure who this person is, but apparently the author appreciated them enough to give them a nod on the copyright page!

Overall, I enjoyed the story, although probably not as much as I did the first two books in the series.  There's only one book left to read, so here's hoping the final book in the series ends on a high note!

RATING:  6 black terrycloth bath robes out of 10 for at least sending Cassandra and Alex to a locale that is a perfect setting for a good murder mystery, as in Hollywood, you never know what's real and what's not!