Final Curtain (Polly Pepper Mysteries)

Polly Pepper, the legendary superstar of television's golden age, is finally back in the entertainment headlines. She's landed the title role in a new production of the musical "Mame", and though it's off-off-off-off Broadway (Glendale, California, actually), Polly's bank account - and her ego - need the job. And if all goes well, the show just might go to New York! There's one minor detour, though: on the second day of rehearsals, wunderkind director Karen Richards turns up dead. Of course Polly's nose for news needs to know, and though Karen was well liked, it seems some last-minute casting changes from artistic director/megalomaniac Gerold Goss did her in. Sadly, Polly's Suspect No. 1 is her new friend and co-star Sharon Fletcher, who also plays a deliciously sultry bad girl on the popular daytime soap "It's Never Fair Weather." Sharon was the last person seen with the deceased director...and her Emmy matches the dent in Karen's head.But as Gerold takes over the director's chair, Polly finds her cast-member-suspect-list reaching epic proportions. Could it be Charlotte Bunch, who Karen politely corrected until she got her Irish brougue right? Everyone knows actresses can be very touchy. Or Gerold's sweetly innocent girlfriend Mag Ryan, who drunkenly reveals that she wouldn't let anything stand in the way of her landing a part in the possibly Broadway-bound musical? Or maybe even Karen's young assistant Jamie, who Polly discovers was promised a role in the play...after Karen's untimely demise?The more Polly sniffs, the surer she is that Sharon didn't haul off and bash Karen with her Emmy. But the evidence is mounting, and it'll take all of Polly's wits - and some help back at Pepper Plantation from her ever-dependable son Tim, and their perpetually wisecracking maid Placenta - to save the jailed soap star from a murder rap...and a starring role in a real-life drama tentatively entitled "Framed!"