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Murder on Sunset Boulevard

November 2002, $12.95 ISBN 1-929976-19-4 Trade Paperback

From the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Murder on Sunset Boulevard,  Edited by Rochelle Krich (Jessica Drake series), Michael Mallory (The Second Mrs. Watson series) and Lisa Seidman (professional TV writer), the book features 12 stories set along the famed thoroughfare from the gritty streets of downtown to the palatial homes of Malibu Beach.

Contributors: Dana Kouba, Gayle McGary, Richard Partlow, Dale Furutani, Joan Waites, Kate Thornton, Gay Toltl Kinman, Mae Woods, Linda O. Johnston, Paul D. Marks, Anne Riffenburgh, Gabriella Diamond

Table of Contents

CLOSING TIME 

BEAUDRY ROSE 

THE RED CAR MURDERS 

EXTREME PREJUDICE 

THREE KILLINGS AND A FAVOR 

TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARITA 

NEITHER TARNISHED NOR AFRAID 

AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE 

LOVE ON SUNSET BOULEVARD

L.A. LATE @ NIGHT

LEAP OF FAITH

BLACK AND RED AND DEAD ALL OVER 

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EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Reviewed by Ronald A. Reis, New World Press

I love good paragraphs.  I particularly love good first paragraphs.  And when it comes to short stories, where every word, sentence, and of course, paragraph must carry its own weight, more than would be demanded, say, in a one-thousand page Gothic novel, a great opening paragraph is not only a sheer delight, but a downright necessity.  Take this one from The Read Car Murders, by Richard Partlow, one of a dozen authors featured in Murder on Sunset Boulevard:

"It's 1946 in Los Angeles and I'm just a kid.   The war's over and I live alone with my dad who isn't home much, since he's out looking for work.  I sell newspapers to help out.  Two months ago, after Dad got back from the war, my mom hopped a streetcar for her family get-together in Iowa.  A few days later she sent us a postcard saying she was staying awhile.  It would be nice to have someone at home, waiting for me."

Think of all you now know, about time, place, character, even plot in that one opening shot.

Here's another, by Joan Waites, from Three Killings and a Favor:

"Romeo Carlos de Jesus is not a man you meet on the way up, understand?  He's blown up cars and burned down houses, shot people in the face, stabbed, beaten and poisoned traitorous men, unfaithful women and annoying pets.   So when he comes sauntering up to me while I'm sitting in the park, fear slams through me like an 18-wheeler.  It constricts my breathing, brings heat to my face and makes my fingertips tingle, like when you're driving and realize that you're about to smash into something.  I figure this is it, I'm going down, all the way down, to be tortured for eternity and made to crave ice water."

Go ahead; tell me you don't want to know more!

And more, plenty more, is what you get with this new anthology from the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters in Crime.  All the short crime stories included, each one in varied ways dealing with Sunset Boulevard, were chosen blind.  That is, entries were submitted anonymously and selected on the basis of characterization, originality, mystery plot, and voice.  The editors had their eyes wide open.

Sunset Boulevard, with its 25 varied, luminary miles, from downtown to the Pacific Ocean, is a natural backdrop for crime tales.   From Billy Wilder's classic film of the same name, to Chandler, Macdonald, and even Crafton, the boulevard of dreams, if ever there was one, has figured in mystery after mayhem.  Murder on Sunset Boulevard expands the genre admirably.

Hard as it will be for you to do so, I suggest reading but one story a night, savoring all that each offers before you dose off.   Yet, before you even begin to do that, an important decision awaits.  This book is not so much a read, as it is a project.  Residing in Los Angeles, you can experience Murder on Sunset Boulevard for yourself.  The question: Do you take the ride, preferably east to west, before settling in to read, or after?  I suggest the former.

In doing so, first consume the editor's short, but place-setting introductions to each story.  Then, proceed east along Sunset, beginning at Beaudry Avenue, and pull over somewhere in each community mentioned: Echo Park, Silver Lake, East Hollywood, Hollywood itself, the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood, and the Palisades, to check out the scene, of the crime that is.

Now, after enjoying the ride, savor the read.   And a varied read it is.  In two stories, both set in the 1940s, female cops are the protagonists.  In The Red Car Murders, Officer Dotty Sullivan misses her target spot when, with a found gun, she shoots the bad guy in the leg, not the gut.   Reason?  "The LAPD won't issue guns to policewomen.  No training." And in Neither Tarnished Nor Afraid, we have a 1942 tale in which Officer Agnes Graham teams up with private investigator Philip Morlow, no less, in a clever story collaboration, only because she's on the job courtesy of the war, when many in the LAPD are sporting another kind of uniform.  Interesting, though the latter story takes place four years before the former, Graham has her gun, "He started to move his hands up as I drew my gun and pushed through the doorway."  Maybe there should have been a bit more author collaborations?

No matter, Murder on Sunset Boulevard is a gratifying read, for mystery fans and L.A. culture connoisseurs alike.  From a gritty double homicide, where the bad guys sometimes win (An Open and Shut Case), to cross-dressing and cross-culture at its finest (Two Mules for Sister Sarita), to upper-crust doings in, with a twist as good as it gets (Black and Red and Dead All Over), you're in for a treat.  Good beginnings, good endings, and storied Los Angeles in between.

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Review: Murder on Sunset Blvd

Highly recommended, enjoyed the read, 5 stars

The book of 221 pages is a collection of writings produced by some of the foremost writers today. Included the reader will find Closing Time by Dana Kouba, Beaudry Rose by Gayle McGary and The Red Car Murders in which Richard Partlow’s tale set in 1946 keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The tale is told in the first person by a seventh grade grade newspaper salesman who finds a silver gun on the streetcar. Before long Mark faces a desperate killer, a woman cop who is not allowed to carry a gun and ‘A Special Agent.’ Extreme Prejudice by Dale Furutani, Three Killings and a Favor by Joan Waites and Two Mules for Sister Sarita by Kate Thornton are a nice change of pace. Neither Tarnished Nor Afraid by Gay Toltl Kinman is another tale told in the first person and is set in 1942 during WWII. Police office Agnes Graham is a big gal who realizes that were it not for the war she would not have gotten the chance to join the police force. An Open and Shut Case by Mae Woods, Love on Sunset Boulevard by Linda O Johnston and LA Late @ Night by Paul D Marks add to the reading enjoyment. The work is completed with Leap of Faith by Anne Riffenburgh again told in the first person, but in more modern times combines intrigue, murder and a whole batch of interesting characters. The last tale in the collection written by Gabriella Diamond is Black and Red and Dead All Over.

Each of the various authors presents a matchless narrative from their unrivaled perspective and written in their own unique style. Because this is a collection of tales there is something for everyone. As a Californian I know Sunset Boulevard is a place dear to the mystique of the state. This dozen clever yarn spinners speed the reader along the often squalid ride across Los Angeles with enthralling tales filled with machination, retaliation, apprehension and deficiency. Gay Toltl Kinman with a Philip Marlowe restate of Hollywood will be of particular interest to those who miss the old time tales.

Characters are credible, Sunset Boulevard comes alive under the fertile pen and imagination of these master storytellers. The sights, scents and people found then and now along this most famous of streets in America are presented in gritty detail. From the murder of a child killer outside a ratty pool hall to a twisted anecdote of lost love, this is a perverse trek along the byway of a city known for peculiar and strange happenings. A tale of vengeance and assassination carried out within the upper crusty boundary of the street near the ocean, another offering a chilling glimpse into the maneuvering found behind TV crime shows and an attorney’s convoluted course to atonement all are presented for the reader’s enjoyment.

There is truly something for everyone in this anthology filled with conundrum, mystery and plain good writing.

Reviewed by: molly martin http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin

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From Booklist

Sunset Boulevard, the almost mythical street that runs from downtown L.A. to the Pacific Ocean, is the setting for all of the stories in this anthology by members of the L.A. chapter of Sisters in Crime. Each story is set in a different neighborhood, providing an overview of the city. Beginning with Dana Kouba's "Closing Time," set in a downtown, working-class bar, and continuing west through Echo Park, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills to the exclusive Malibu estates, the stories are full of hopeful future stars, arrogant directors, lawyers, and police detectives. There is even a cameo appearance by Philip Marlowe. Paul D. Marks writes "L.A. Late @ Night" as a screenplay, while Gabriella Diamond offers the ultimate in irony and revenge in "Black and Red and Dead All Over." Short story fans will enjoy this trip down Sunset Boulevard. Barbara Bibel
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