Sizzling Cold Case: The Legend of Lori London, a Barnaby Jones Novel

by Buddy Ebsen, Darlene Quinn

Sizzling Cold Case is a Barnaby Jones murder mystery written by Buddy Ebsen, who portrayed L.A. sleuth Barnaby Jones in the long-running TV series of the same name.

Beautiful starlet Lori London died suddenly some eighteen years ago. Though her death was ruled a suicide, neither Barnaby nor Hollywood believed that was the end of the story, and Barnaby would not let the cold case stay closed.

When another rising star (a dead ringer for Lori) is cast in the movie version of London's demise with a new, "surprise" ending, on-set accidents, death threats, and burned film canisters make it clear someone doesn't want the truth to be told. In his search for clues, Barnaby discovers a connection between the murderer of Lori London and the man who murdered his own son in cold blood, and must confront his son's killer once more. The story comes to a thrilling conclusion at the Hollywood premiere of The True Story behind the Legend of Lori London.

342 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

American movie and television actor

Reviews

[Darryl Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sizzling Cold Case" is an unusual novel for several reasons. About 100 pages of it was written by Buddy Ebsen who most, certainly those of a certain age, will recall was the actor who played Jed Clampett in The Beverley Hillbillies and, later, the role of Barnaby Jones in the television series of the same name. While Buddy survived to the age of 95 he didn’t manage to complete the manuscript so his friend Darlene Quinn, herself an author, finished it for him. In her own words she “needed to add a few words, characters, and sub-plots to craft a novel. However I remained true to Buddy’s concept and felt as if he was right beside me and approved of the scenes.” The end result is something that could well have been finished by Buddy himself. It is written in the first person, as though the narrator is legendary LA private detective Barnaby Jones. As for the story itself, Lori London, a beautiful Hollywood starlet and friend of Barnaby and his deceased son, Hal, died suddenly eighteen years ago. Though her death was ruled a suicide, neither Barnaby, nor Hal believed that it was; it had to be homicide. When another rising star, a dead ringer for Lori, is cast in the movie version of Lori’s demise with a new “surprise” ending, on-set accidents, death threats, arson and murder make it clear someone doesn’t want the truth to be told. In his search for the truth Barnaby discovers a connection between Lori’s homicide and the man who murdered his own son and must once more confront his son’s killer, currently languishing in a supermax prison, to get at the truth.

"Sizzling Cold Case" reads like a good old fashioned whodunnit and it is told in a rather outmoded style. That said, the narrative did hold my interest right to the denouement; throughout the story I was curious to see where Barnaby’s investigation would lead me next. I’m not sure the LAPD would allow such leeway to a private investigator in a murder investigation but hey, who cares? It’s a good yarn and who wants to see implausibility get in its way? On the technical side the editing of this novel was a bit lazy. While it is frustrating when computers, who as we all know, have a mind of their own, sometimes manage to stretch just one or two words across an entire line, no effort appears to have been made to rectify this which does have some effect on the overall formatting. That said, this is an easy-to-read but hard-to-put-down murder mystery. I’m sure Buddy would be pleased with the end result. Barnaby certainly was.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sizzling Cold Case
: Buddy Ebsen , Darlene Quinn

I can't say that I was ever a fan of the Barnaby Jones television show, but what drew me to this was that it was written by Buddy Ebsen. Some of the verbiage seemed repetitive but the majority was aimed at listeners who are above the typical murder mystery listener. It was an interesting and suspenseful murder mystery 18 years in the making.




The narration was well done with the exception of mispronounced words. The characters were well portrayed and the special sound effects added to the story. William E. Fortier's voice was fitting for this book.



"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: written by Ebsen who portrayed Jones, the LA sleuth, on TV. A cold case comes alive after eighteen years.

[Nicole Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I am marking this book as "read," even though I had to give up about 1/3 of the way through. The story was not engaging (even though I thought it would be from the description), the writing was trite and cliche-riddled, and I was distracted by the switching from first to third person narration.

The narration was not very good, either. (This was narrated by William E. Fortier.) There were pauses at awkward moments (i.e., where one would not naturally pause in a sentence). Also, there were sound effect (like a saxophone playing when the story noted that a saxophone was playing). I found that odd; I've never encountered that in an audiobook.

[Danna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barnaby Jones is my husband's current favorite comfort-watch when winding down for the evening; he has the whole set on DVD. I also enjoy popping in occasionally to experience the fun flashback to the '70s. Then he discovered Buddy Ebsen wrote a Barnaby Jones novel, bought it for us for Christmas, and this became our next bedtime story book. Oh the hilarity! So terribly edited (apologies to Darlene Quinn for whom this was clearly a labor of love) and yet the tedium became part of its charm. While the story could have been told with half the number of pages, I could hear the voices of Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether, and I could visualize the story as a TV episode. Three stars for the awkward charm and nostalgia.

[John Rallios · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this a five-star rating, but the profanity was not in the spirit of Barnaby Jones, even though he didn't use foul language. The mystery, writing, and characterization were great with great heart. I also liked going back to his deceased son's history that led to this case being opened again. You get the feel of Barnaby's loss and grief that you don't get much in the TV series.

[Elliemae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible audiobook

Loved watching Buddy Ebsen play Barnaby Jones while it ran on tv, so when I discovered he had written this book [I realize he did not finish it] I had to listen to it. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Joanne Laplante · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is excellent book to read.