It was a script that could only have come from Hollywood: the wedding of two superstars after a scandal-filled courtship … a wild trip by private plane to a hideaway … a deadly double overdose of drugs …

These corpses weren’t play-acting. Once again Ellery was cast in the role of master detective, as he found nothing was quite what it seemed in the never-never land of moviedom—except sudden, violent death.

Here is a grand mystery with an extremely ingenious, intricate, and watertight plot. The setting is Hollywood, and something is happening all the time. It’s fantastic and uproarious, and full of Hollywood patter at its lushest. It’s expertly solved, with an effective extra turnover at the end resulting in a surprising and thrilling finish.