West of Paradise

By: Gwen Davis

Narrated by: Susan O’Malley

Kate Donnelly, an aspiring writer, has made her way to Los Angeles to pick up the fallen standard of her literary hero, F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose last great obsession had been with Hollywood and its peculiar industry. Prepared to immerse herself in all that is LA, Kate heads straight to Westwood Mortuary, the city’s most celebrity-packed cemetery (Marilyn Monroe is there), to crash the celebrity-packed funeral of the renowned and despised Hollywood producer Larry Drayco.

Kate soon finds herself masquerading among strangers who can’t distinguish between Hemingway and Fitzgerald and mixing with ex-duchesses, major players, private detectives, aging enfants terribles, dealmakers, and philosopher-gurus as she makes her way in this foreign land.

©1998 Gwen Davis (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

witty light celeb listen

After reading the blurbs too hastily, I mistook this for a period detective cozy - so I was very disappointed. I think, however, if you like a light listen poking fun at our (or 1998's) celebrity culture with a bit a mystery on the side, you'd rate this higher. It did fill a long weekend's light listening requirement for me, even though I dislike novels about Hollywood, even those that jest well. It's well paced with better than average dialogue for its type; some humour is original, some not did not resonant with me. With its 1998 setting, I guess it is, in a way, a period listen, though not the type I was seeking.