GETTING OFF ON FRANK SINATRA

A would-be reporter probes a socialite’s death.

Covering routine community events requires lots of local travel, and Copper Black, the Las Vegas Light's “calendar girl,”quickly learns that getting off on Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, or any of Vegas’ celebrity-named local streets is a reliable time-saver over fighting the traffic on I-15. If only she could find a similar shortcut to domestic bliss. First her current flame, David Nussbaum, tells her that an ill-planned visit to his almost-ex-wife Rebecca has resulted in the anticipated arrival of a son for the still-wed couple. A visit from her college boyfriend, Daniel Garside, crashes and burns when admirer Sean DuBois turns up at the Nash house, a romantic retreat where Copper hoped to entertain Daniel. Sean’s visit is especially creepy since he’s still a suspect in the murder of his mother, philanthropist Marilyn Weaver. Copper’s been touring Marilyn’s pet project, the Anna Roberts Parks Academy in Henderson, hoping a juicy insider article will prompt her boss, Chris Farr, to take her off the calendar and give her a regular column. Like her love life, her career plans stall when she discovers Marilyn’s body in a closet in the Weaver mansion. Between suspect Sean, disappearing Daniel, and dad-to-be David, Copper seems to have her hands full. But the aspiring newshound digs deep and finds resources to cope with a life that just keeps coming at her in a city that never sleeps.

Despite an ill-timed and easily guessed solution, Copper’s debut has enough pizzazz to make readers want to try just one more roll of the dice.