Book Review: Hollywood Homicide

Book: Hollywood Homicide (A Detective by Day Mystery book #1) by Kellye Garrett

Cover Design by Lisa Novak
Cover Illustration by Richard Méril

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Actress Dayna Anderson’s Deadly New Role: Homicide Detective

Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash.

But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she wants more than just reward money. She’s determined to find the poor woman’s killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree, Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes and movie premieres. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her.

And there are no second takes in real life.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Hollywood Homicide is a humorous fast-paced cozy mystery that follows as “retired” actress Dayna Anderson was dealing with not only a lack of career options but also a lack of money. And speaking of lack of money, she was drowning in a sea of debt and to make matters worse she was so desperate for work that she tried to get a job as a bikini barista (which she didn’t get). And if that wasn’t bad enough, her car ran out of gas on her way home. She only had enough cash to get the bare minimum amount of gas.

While Dayna was getting gas, she saw a billboard that gave her an idea as a way to make some money. The billboard was for information about the hit-and-run death of Haley Joseph which listed a reward for $15,000. That money was something she truly needed especially after finding out her parents’ house was set to be foreclosed on. She certainly didn’t have any money to help them let alone herself.

However, she was determined to help them and the only way she thought she could get the money was to solve the murder of Haley Joseph. She already had a lead into solving the mystery, a video she and her friends had filmed on the night of the murder. The only problem is it’s on her old friend and up-and-coming actor Omari Grant’s phone. The old friend who is not talking to her following an awkward situation between the two of them.

Dayna wasn’t alone in trying to solve the case, her two best friends Sienna (an aspiring actress) and Emme (a former child actress turned tech expert) were helping her along the way. And whether she wanted the help or not, she initially received additional and unwanted help from Aubrey S. Adams-Parker, a former police officer who is a quirky and weird guy but he was quickly becoming a helpful ally.

The more Dayna looked into the murder the more clues she found and they were leading her in several directions. It was looking more and more like Haley’s murder wasn’t a simple hit-and-run but something bigger that just might end up getting Dayna killed.

I found Hollywood Homicide to be a good read with an interesting mystery. The author has a way of interjecting humor in just the right scenes for the perfect funny moments. Since this is set in Los Angeles, many of the characters are actors, aspiring actors trying to get their big break or former actors who have no interest (or claim they do) of getting back into acting. As a main character Dayna is interesting. She might be an amateur sleuth but her enthusiasm, clever ideas and risk taking more than make up for her lack of professional detective training.

I really enjoyed reading this, I didn't want to put it down because the story does keep you guessing as to what's going to happen next. I'm really looking forward to reading the second book because this was a fun read.