Leo is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and is remembering his time in World War II, and someone named Auggie. His current, and third wife, Shirley, has been found floating in her swimming pool. When she recovers, she hires tough female PI, Sam Styles, to locate Auggie and perhaps soothe Leo. Soon, however, Styles finds herself looking for someone who has attempted murder and has landed her in the hospital from a booby trap in the Mayer house intended for Shirley. Laid up with a broken leg, Styles turns to Gilda for help.

Gilda finds herself juggling two related investigations, a busy summer season at the Paradise, and a group of bickering aunts and uncles trying to make a comeback in the movie biz. The chief suspects are Leo's three grown sons, Larry, Curt and Milt (sound like another famous trio?). Gilda, however, has very few clues as to how to find Auggie. A death in the Mayer family causes Styles and Gilda, with the help of private nurses James and Spike, step up their investigation, and find some answers, while Leo is still somewhat lucid.

Slow Dissolve is an entertaining, yet unfocused mystery. Gilda's relatives are very eccentric and references to movie history, some obvious, some not so obvious, will keep some readers interested, but the two mysteries are hard to follow, and the investigations unplanned. The resolution to both mysteries are not very satisfying, one glossed over, the other not entirely unexpected. A bit of interesting and lesser-known African-American cinema history provides some structure to an otherwise anti-climactic ending. True movie buffs will enjoy the atmosphere and references in Slow Dissolve, others may be disappointed.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry