Close-up to Murder
(2026)A Hollywood Cold Case Mystery
(The first book in the Xanadu Canyon Mystery series)
A novel by Patricia Rice
Bestselling author Patricia Rice brings us the start of a new contemporary cozy mystery series with an amateur female sleuth, a hint of romance, a cast of her famously eccentric characters, and a cold case mystery that heats up quickly.
A missing magician. A hidden mansion. An invisible killer. . .
Rio Cruze has spent her life searching for answers—first about her past, now about a missing genius who has erased himself.
When a reclusive CGI technician can’t be found, security chief Rio Cruze is sent to track him down before an historic film studio goes under. Her only lead takes her to Xanadu: a century-old mansion hidden deep in a California coastal canyon, where time seems to stand still.
Xanadu has been keeping Hollywood secrets for a century, but when a landslide traps Rio and the inhabitants in the canyon, a decades-old skeleton surfaces… and the search for a missing man turns into a hunt for a killer from the past.
After another body surfaces, Rio must uncover the truth—before she becomes part of Xanadu’s history. Trusting the enigmatic man who will inherit it all may be her most dangerous move of all.
A missing magician. A hidden mansion. An invisible killer. . .
Rio Cruze has spent her life searching for answers—first about her past, now about a missing genius who has erased himself.
When a reclusive CGI technician can’t be found, security chief Rio Cruze is sent to track him down before an historic film studio goes under. Her only lead takes her to Xanadu: a century-old mansion hidden deep in a California coastal canyon, where time seems to stand still.
Xanadu has been keeping Hollywood secrets for a century, but when a landslide traps Rio and the inhabitants in the canyon, a decades-old skeleton surfaces… and the search for a missing man turns into a hunt for a killer from the past.
After another body surfaces, Rio must uncover the truth—before she becomes part of Xanadu’s history. Trusting the enigmatic man who will inherit it all may be her most dangerous move of all.
- For readers who love cozy mysteries with eccentric characters, buried secrets, closed-circle suspects, and a touch of romance. For fans of Ellery Adams, Jenn McKinlay, M.C. Beaton, Amanda Flower, Kate Carlisle
Genre: Mystery