Quinn assumes, as does Detective Tracy Lewis, that Shane was like most other young movie moguls: living on the edge, too much money and too many drugs. Peter King, his father, disagrees. He is certain his younger son was not using drugs, especially since Shane watched his older brother Rhett destroy his life with drugs and eventually die from them. Shane’s star struck wanna-be girlfriend Tiffany agrees with Peter that Shane never used drugs, though Quinn feels Tiffany’s grief comes more from the fact that she has lost her inside track to Hollywood than the love of her life.

Something about the story piques Quinn’s interest and when Peter asks her to look into it, she reluctantly agrees, thinking she might get another story about drug use among Hollywood’s elite out of it. All the medical reports point to a drug overdose, yet Quinn has developed a nagging feeling that Shane’s death is somehow connected to Rhett’s, or even stranger, connected to the death of a classmate on the beach ten years ago. A destructive burglary at home and in her office confirms Quinn’s suspicions, though she can’t quite connect all the dots yet.

Star Struck is a dependable mystery, set in the glamorous world of the movies. A straightforward plot and well-laid clues make this an easy mystery to read, if not an especially tense one. Quinn is a respectable, headstrong heroine, maybe a bit too stubborn for her own good. She is very clever and is able to use her contacts to her advantage. In her early forties, Quinn is very comfortable with herself and the single life she has chosen. She lives in a cottage behind her uncle’s house and enjoys a close relationship with the elderly uncle who raised her. Not much else of Quinn’s past is revealed, leaving her, at times, a flat character. The other characters Quinn encounters during her investigation are very stereotypical and one-dimensional, though that may be an intentional attempt at portraying spoiled Hollywood heirs.

The pace of the mystery is fast enough to hold the reader’s attention and Nancy Baker Jacobs connects the many loose threads and ties them all neatly together in a satisfying finish.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry