Britt Lind delivers the second book in her Hollywood Mystery series, Malevolence. Rosemaria Baker, a former homicide detective, serves as a Beverly Hills city prosecutor.
As an assistant DA, Rosemaria investigates the death of a teenage prostitute at a plush Beverly Hills hotel. At first, no one realized that the girl’s murder could uncover a criminal conspiracy headed by a congressman with millions of dollars at stake.
Rosemaria lives with her boyfriend, Josh, a former alcoholic she met while investigating another crime. Josh, now sober, works as a performance-shy songwriter. His love song features in a high-profile motion picture, his first major show break. A major celebrity, Joell, described as part Adele and part Celine Dion performs this song.
Josh’s passion for animal rights acts as a foundation in his relationship with Rosemaria.
In the first book, Josh and Rosemaria adopt two panthers, giving the big cats a place to call home. Now, Josh’s attention turns to Sammy the elephant. For years this poor creature endured abuse at the L.A. Zoo and Josh is committed to freeing it. His efforts will ultimately involve Joell, a broad swath of Hollywood entertainers, spokespeople for the city’s homeless community, and eventually the L.A. City Council.
In addition to the murdered girl, Rosemaria investigates other cases. Those include a senior citizen accused of embezzling funds from an old folks’ home, an undercover cop overly involved in the crimes of his teenage posse, and an alleged beating of an elderly chauffeur by his employer–a prominent physician and a large political donor.
Walter Atkins, her new boss, makes Rosemaria’s job difficult. Atkins wants her to go soft on the physician because of his high-profile connections to local politicos. When he fails to dissuade her, his anger turns to rage. But Rosemaria finds ways, including at least one devious scheme, to get him off her back.
Her main concern remains the murdered girl because of its potential ties to a larger crime.
The murdered girl overheard something when she visited the hotel room of some political figure. Those words cost the girl her life. If leaked, the information could destroy a carefully nurtured criminal enterprise involving the passage of a bill through Congress with the potential illegal payoff of millions of dollars.
Rosemaria’s investigations soon uncover two young prostitutes who knew the murdered girl. Now, they find themselves in danger of being killed because of what their friend might have told them. Would-be assassins make several attempts on their lives. They track the sex workers no matter how well their protectors work to keep them safe, leaving Rosemaria to wonder just how high up the corruption goes.
Anyone who talked to the girl or her friends might have a target on their back.
Malevolence – A Hollywood Mystery is the second book in the highly-rated series by Britt Lind. Like the first book, Malevolence weaves the themes of commitment and love, along with animal rights into the narrative. And in the end, those who should get their comeuppance do.
For readers who like their police novels with a good heart, strong female leads and a well-integrated animal rights theme, Malevolence—a Hollywood Mystery will excite and satisfy.
Jessica H. Stone delivers a killer first book in her new murder mystery series, Blood on a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery. 
Venice has a long and intricate history and is best known as “The Floating City.” Tourists from across the world come to marvel at its beautiful architecture and walk over its countless bridges. Getting lost in time among the splendors of Venice can be seductive. Visitors will recognize the undercurrent of romance and mystery to the city, and make no mistake, Christine Evelyn Volker captures it in her novel, Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City.
In this stirring whodunit by writer J. J. Clarke, a young woman flees from an evil-minded stalker and finds herself in an underground of female supporters who know how to protect her.
There is a point in time when what is done cannot be undone. That’s a tough lesson to learn for the attendees at Fairfield’s Auction. Most of them are residents of Witherston, a rural town in Georgia. The items up for auction represent the history of a divided community. After all, what is the community? Is it property to be bought and sold and owned, as the white settlers viewed it? Or is it land not to be divided but shared as the original Cherokees believed? And the historic items that are on display to be auctioned, is it right that the tomahawks and Cherokee blowguns stolen from the tribes be sold at high prices by the settlers’ descendants? Who really owns the history that is on sale? And is ownership worth killing for? Disagreement can lead to murder.
