The Darkness Knows

A rising radio star recruits a private eye to help her investigate the murder of a co-worker in the hope that she won’t be the next victim.

Vivian Witchell has no illusions about her skills as an actress. Though she’s not a great talent, she’s serviceable on the radio and feels lucky to work for Chicago’s WCHI. She’s even landed the plum role of Lorna Lafferty on The Darkness Knows. All is hunky dory in Viv’s world, though she can’t tell if handsome co-star Graham Yarborough’s intimations of a potential date are genuine or part of the show’s publicity. After coffee with Graham, which turns out to be nothing more than coffee, Vivian returns to the station to pick up her umbrella only to stumble on a prone body that launches a murder investigation. The dead woman is Marjorie Fox, an aging radio starlet with a drinking problem that should have killed her before her penchant for angering her co-workers did. Viv assumes that one of her colleagues must be Marjorie’s murderer until private investigator Charlie Haverman warns her there might be something more at play. Charlie, concerned for Viv’s well-being, shows her a letter Marjorie received from a listener-turned-stalker and maybe murderer. Now Charlie’s bent on protecting Viv, though all she wants to do is find out whodunit. Can she talk Charlie into helping her solve the crime, or does he have his own dark connections to hide?

The predictable plot doesn’t get in the way of the characters’ charm, though a sharper focus on the distinctive 1930s setting could have added a bit more fun to the follies in this bright debut.