Bad Actors

Margot O'Banion Mysteries #3

by Kit Sloane

Margot O'Banion unearths a tale of revenge and betrayal acted out by a cast of characters intent on preserving a united front against a sinister part of Hollywood's past.

212 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

KIT SLOANE ....A GRADUATE IN Art History from Mills College, Oakland, California, Kit has published short stories and many articles on the art of writing and the writing business. She served as first fiction editor for Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine. She especially enjoys lecturing about the writing world and mentoring new writers. She is a long time member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Mystery Women of the UK and was named one of Mills College’s Literary Women for 2007. Kit and her professor husband live on a small hilltop horse ranch in Northern California’s sublime wine country.

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margot O’Banion Lake is a feature film editor who has a long-term relationship and a son, with Max Skull, a top director. Instead of living with Max and her son, she lives in a large apartment with two friends and her son. Seems rather strange since she and Max are still an “item” but then this is Hollywood. Every day on her way to work Margot goes by her old high school. She never thinks much about it but, when Max decides he wants his next movie shot inside the school, it brings back a lot of scary memories. When friends and others try to get Max to change his mind about using the school, he becomes even more determined. Max usually gets what he wants. When other, more sinister things begin to happen, Margot wonders what is really going on. She never like the school building when she was a student, she likes it even less now. Does she have a good reason or is she just letting her adolescent fears come back to haunt her now?

It took me a while to figure out how the book got it’s name, but I finally did. The name seemed strange at first, but it does make sense later in the book. This story has an interesting twist in the plot and the solutions. It was well written and I found it easy to identify with Margot as she gathered information. I didn’t really identify with her “money” but then, I can dream can’t I? It was a good book and very enjoyable. “Bad Actors” is the third book in the Margot O’Banion series. I understand the next book in the series, “Last Words” is due out in the Fall of 2003.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this novel that features film editor, Margot O'Banion Lake as our sleuth, the crime is much more sinister than a murder case. The current films Art Director, Stan dies and when Margot and friends go to a possible location site at a landmark school, nefarious characters show up. The very fact that the Vice Principal is still the same man that Margot knew as Vice Principal when she attended the high school makes her wonder. Then there is the murder rumor...

Vivid characters, vivid locations, dynamic dialogue draws you further into the mystery of Gerald McPurdy High School and the past that lives on to this day. Ask yourself if you ever wondered what happened to the 'bad' students when they grew up? Did they grow up? Are they still 'bad?' Add the film noir feeling of an art deco building and pacts that bind groups together. Mix in attacks that happen or did they?

You have a crime that is sinister and thought provoking. Take your time reading this novel as it has levels within it that deepen the situation.

An excellent study of human nature.