Bad Actor
(2025)(The second book in the Ellis Dunaway, P.I. Mystery series)
A novel by Keith Edward Vaughn
"Keith Edward Vaughn catches the feel of L.A. — he knows Hollywood's ragged fringes and spins out noir with a satirist's eye. Failed nepo baby PI Ellis Dunaway is the perfectly imperfect man to go down these mean freeways, and Vaughn had me right with him through every last wrong turn." - Howard Michael Gould, author of LAST LOOKS and other books in the Charlie Waldo series
"A fun, charming, quirky mystery featuring an unlikely detective navigating the seedy side of showbiz." - Kirkus Reviews
It's Christmastime in L.A., and private investigator Ellis Dunaway is California sober and hoping his days as a gumshoe are almost done. He's been given a chance to reclaim his once and future dream job as a television writer by scripting a woke Miami Vice reboot for cancelled actor Urs Schreiber. The show could mean a comeback for both of them, until Urs's agent, the notorious chauvinist Larry Price, is killed. It seems to be the work of the Southland Sniper, who's been terrorizing the city, picking off random targets. But when suspicion shifts to Urs, he hires Ellis to clear his name.
To save the show and keep his new life on track, Ellis has to face his demons—inner and folkloric—as he chases from strip malls to porn shoots to occult museums to new age therapy sessions and beyond. The actors, influencers, gurus, and wannabes he meets along the way all have their own agendas, and getting to the bottom of Larry Price's murder isn't one of them.
And Ellis better act fast because he's losing his apartment, dating a neurotic, and dodging a hit man's bullets. On the upside, Stevie Nicks can't stay out of his lap.
Genre: Mystery
"A fun, charming, quirky mystery featuring an unlikely detective navigating the seedy side of showbiz." - Kirkus Reviews
It's Christmastime in L.A., and private investigator Ellis Dunaway is California sober and hoping his days as a gumshoe are almost done. He's been given a chance to reclaim his once and future dream job as a television writer by scripting a woke Miami Vice reboot for cancelled actor Urs Schreiber. The show could mean a comeback for both of them, until Urs's agent, the notorious chauvinist Larry Price, is killed. It seems to be the work of the Southland Sniper, who's been terrorizing the city, picking off random targets. But when suspicion shifts to Urs, he hires Ellis to clear his name.
To save the show and keep his new life on track, Ellis has to face his demons—inner and folkloric—as he chases from strip malls to porn shoots to occult museums to new age therapy sessions and beyond. The actors, influencers, gurus, and wannabes he meets along the way all have their own agendas, and getting to the bottom of Larry Price's murder isn't one of them.
And Ellis better act fast because he's losing his apartment, dating a neurotic, and dodging a hit man's bullets. On the upside, Stevie Nicks can't stay out of his lap.
Genre: Mystery
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Keith Edward Vaughn's Bad Actor