MURDER ON LOCATION

by Howard Engel ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 1985

A largely disappointing third venture for tacky private-eye Benny Cooperman (The Ransom Game), based in Grantham, Ontario--this time hired by Lowell Mason, a realtor with possible syndicate connections, to find his wife: gorgeous, star-struck Billie. So Benny heads for nearby Niagara Falls, a magnet for the area's amateur actors these days--because a movie is being made there. Among the film-folk involved: actor-writer David Hayes, who has caught the eye of Miranda Pike, a onetime star making a comeback; Miranda's husband Neil Furlong, a local boy who has made good as a screenwriter; stars Dawson Williams and Peggy O'Toole; and director James Sayre, a John Ford lookalike. Murder soon follows, of course--with Benny (whose ingratiating ways have brought him into the inner show-biz circle) finding Hayes' body. And when Miranda's suicide comes shortly thereafter, the case--according to the cops--is closed. But Benny, ferreting through old theater records and digging elsewhere too, comes up with a new slant on things. . . which leads to a finale-chase across the ice floes under the Falls. A soggy, overlong Cooperman case, lumbered by too much of everything (plot, talk, unmemorable characters)--even if Benny himself remains a charmer.

Pub Date: April 11, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION