Oscar Season-Mary McNamara

Oscar Season
Mary McNamara
Simon & Schuster, Feb 2008, $24.00
ISBN 9781416539919

As always when the countdown to the Academy Awards gala begins, much of Los Angeles is caught up with the glitz, but many prepare for the event. For instance the ritzy Pinnacle Hotel Director of Public Relations Juliette Greyson knows how important the Oscar month is to her hotel and works accordingly expecting zaniness as the norm as she hosts the Oscar Season Summit and explains the Oscar Might Survivor Kit excludes cyanide to the employees.

However, this season is different as the “Oscar Curse” seems to be haunting the participants. British actor David Fulbright is shot dead in the hotel’s pool. A reporter covering the event, a starlet nominated for best actress, and a screenwriter also nominated were murdered. For Juliette the curse would be curious but no more than that except for Fulbright’s death that seems connected to her outside the hotel; however the third victim is more linked to Juliette as he is her former husband Josh Singer. She and superstar Michael O’Connor investigate the “Oscar curse” although she worries how their amateur sleuthing will harm her beloved battling cancer.

Jackie Collins’s fans will enjoy this up front and personal look at the Oscar persona filled with egomaniacs who would do anything to get the edge including killing the competition. The investigation is fun but more so because it enables the audience to see deep into the lives of Hollywood much further than the Rivers’ duet ever escorted fans. Not for murder mystery purists, OSCAR SEASON is a fun astute glimpse into Oscar Nation.

Harriet Klausner