THE SERENITY MURDERS

A classy cross-dresser has to catch a murderous man determined to derail her otherwise fabulous life.

The stylish Burçak Veral is dressing up in her best (think a transvestite homage to Audrey Hepburn) for her appearance on Süheyl Arkin’s television show. Though the way the bar owner lives her life offends some callers, the general response appears to be more curious than upset until a final caller disturbs the apple cart. After accusing Süheyl of promoting an inappropriate lifestyle, he goes one step further, threatening to kill someone close to Burçak every week. Though the techies on the show try to trace the call, no one can figure out who the caller is, and Burçak leaves the show a little uneasy but relatively confident that he’s just a harmless crazy. Before all the congratulatory calls to Burçak have ended, Süheyl is shot, and immediately, Burçak knows that the threat was a promise. A gal with an active social life, Burçak fears the worst for her many, many friends, like the adorably melodramatic Ponpon. Unfortunately, when she presses her regular cabbie Hüseyin into service, he feels the threat urgently and demands Burçak’s protection. Hüseyin’s about the last person Burçak wants to pair up with. He’s an oaf and a momma’s boy who vacillates between tearful fearfulness and making eyes at Burçak. Can this unlikely pair get to the bottom of things before they’re in the cross hairs?

If you can get past some difficult translations from the Turkish, Somer’s hero/heroine and clan (The Gigolo Murder, 2009, etc.) will delight and dazzle you.