Here is how this cozy is described on Goodreads:
"Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash.
But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she wants more than just reward money. She’s determined to find the poor woman’s killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree, Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes and movie premieres. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her."
*****
I had so much fun reading this book. Kellye Garrett nails the struggles of mid-twenties life, trying to figure out what one wants to do now that they are grown up, how to support yourself as well as family members who are struggling, as well trying to have self-esteem when surrounded by the photoshopped and airbrushed beauty ideals. This is all wrapped in a funny cozy mystery. Dayna is a self-deprecating and most importantly very relatable amateur sleuth. Her old friend and potential love interest (if she gets out of her own way) says she is a quitter, but we see a Dayna who is tenacious in pursuit of her goal to help her parents.
The book takes place in Hollywood, a departure from the small town setting most cozy mysteries use, and this is a nice change of pace. Sometimes in the first book in a series, the author introduces so many characters that it can be difficult to keep everyone straight as the story unfolds. Hollywood Homicide avoids that pitfall.
Kellye Garrett was able to lead me around and I completely discounted the actual killer in this book. For me this book was a 5 star read, and I hope she will be able to write more in this series soon. There is only one more book after this one so far! Eek! I need more Dayna!
