by: Allie Mahoney
Series: Dame Alice Mysteries
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Wrenfield Books
April 1937: When Penelope Greenleigh, assistant at Ten Spot Press, learns she'll be heading to Hollywood to supervise script changes on the set of Lady Irwin's Diamonds , she should be thrilled. Who wouldn't want to mingle with movie stars in sunny California?
But there's a Penelope, 29 and from Cape May, New Jersey, has been asked to impersonate Dame Alice Cartwright, the world's bestselling mystery author, who's 47 and lives in Copley-on-the-Wold, England.
On the night Penelope arrives in L.A., Lady Irwin 's lead actress disappears and a Harry Winston necklace goes missing. Soon, gossip columnist Hattie Holiday threatens to expose Penelope's deception, mobsters are coming after the film's boozy director, and worst of all, Dame Alice's script has gone from murder mystery to Fred and Ginger-style musical!
The action unfolds at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Trocadero, and hotspot Chasen's as Penelope works to solve the crimes alongside a handsome detective and a hapless studio flunky. Can she find the diamonds, the actress, and survive a wild week in Hollywood?
Hi Kim and readers, I’m doing great, thank you so much! It’s summer here outside of Philadelphia and we’re taking lots of long walks with our Dachshund, working on our yard, and barbecuing. Our favorite team the Phillies are having a great season, too!
I’m reading The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager this week, keeping up with my grant-writing job, and found time to watch an episode of “Father Brown” on BritBox. (Is there a more adorable village than Kembleford?)
You’re a debut author, could you please tell me about yourself?
I’m a longtime magazine journalist who has written for Philadelphia Magazine, Town & Country, Men’s Health, and more, and I penned the “Killer WASPs” mystery series for HarperCollins as Amy Korman. (It’s a light, fun series that’s a send-up of Main Line Philly with a side of crime and romance.)
My agent advised me to mix things up with a new “brand,” and that’s how Allie Mahoney and Dame Alice came about! I’m an Agatha Christie superfan, a lover of thrillers, cozy mysteries, P.G. Wodehouse, Dave Barry, and Carl Hiaasen. I love Kenny Chesney concerts, dogs, kayaking, jogging, and I’m trying to learn Spanish and tennis.
Please tell me about your Dame Alice Mystery series and what readers can expect from it.
Dame Alice combines my favorite genres: Agatha Christie classics, funny Janet Evanovich-style capers, and the glamour of old Hollywood. It’s also essentially a village mystery: When main character Penelope is sent out to Los Angeles to impersonate the author Dame Alice Cartwright, she stays with her childhood friend Molly, who’s lucky enough to have a part-time job at the Beverly Hills Hotel and rents a cottage right behind the swanky hotel.
Penelope and Molly, plus their new friend Toby, are plunged into the action among movie stars and mansions. But it turns out Hollywood and Beverly Hills are just like their hometown of Cape May, New Jersey, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. It just looks a lot fancier!
Tell me about some of the characters readers will be introduced to in Dame Alice Hits Hollywood and the Dame Alice Mystery series.
I’ve always wanted to write an Agatha Christie-inspired character: a lady over 40 who people underestimate as a genteel type who’s too prim to solve crimes or notice affairs going on at, say, a country house party. But like the real Agatha Christie, my character Dame Alice Cartwright is very worldly and is totally aware of all the deceptions, gambling, scams, and sexy flings going on when she arrives in Hollywood.
Penelope is a relatable girl next door who helps edit and type up Dame Alice’s mysteries but has never before been part of a glamorous circle until she heads out to L.A (disguised as Dame Alice).
Penelope is sent out to make sure Lady Irwin’s Diamonds, a movie based on one of Dame Alice’s books, is on schedule and that the script is moving forward.
But on Penelope’s first night in town, lead actress Zsa Zsa Le Coque (formerly known as Susie Leacock) disappears, and her husband Morty is the lead suspect. Naturally, Morty is originally from the Jersey Shore and is familiar to Penelope and Molly.
Molly rents her cottage from a down-to-earth oil heiress named Emerald Elliman who takes “Dame Alice” (actually Penelope) under her wing and invites her to parties and lunches at the Brown Derby.
Penelope and Molly also befriend a young studio assistant, Toby, who is prone to losing things—like a 37-carat necklace he was supposed to guard during a floor show at Chasen’s restaurant. And everyone in town is trying to stay on the right side of rapacious snoop Hattie Holiday, a gossip columnist who threatens to expose the fake Dame Alice.
Also, I enjoy gangster characters, so there are a couple of mobsters coming after the director of Lady Irwin’s Diamonds, too!
Can you give me a preview of one of your favorite scenes from Dame Alice Hits Hollywood, and why is it a favorite?
I wanted Penelope to hit the ground running as soon as she stepped off the Silver Chief train in L.A., and during her first three hours in town, she dines at Chasen’s with two movie stars, the film’s director, a mobster, and the vindictive columnist Hattie Holiday.
Once Toby loses the Harry Winston necklace (while distracted by a delicious chicken pot pie), a police detective/musician looking into the crime at Chasen’s catches Penelope’s eye.
Of course, Penelope is dressed as Dame Alice, and her tweed skirt and loafers aren’t the outfit in which she’d hope to meet the handsome Detective Jake Chu.
Also, Hattie Holiday quickly sniffs out Penelope’s deception. But even though her first night in Hollywood is a disaster, Penelope is still thrilled to be in glamorous L.A., and she’s determined to join Molly, Toby, and Jake Chu in solving the crime wave and ensuring that Lady Irwin’s Diamonds makes it to the big screen.
When it comes to writing your stories do you begin writing already knowing who the killer is and why they killed or is it a surprise for you?
I like to outline and have the motive and criminals planned out. Then it’s fun to add in additional shady characters to help drive the action.
Thank you so much for your time, Allie.
Thank you so much for this opportunity and for your time!
You can read an excerpt of the book on Amazon here.
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enjoyed the Q&A
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