Harley Jane Kozak

Mystery author

Comments (0) By Olivia Flores Alvarez Thursday, Aug 16 2007

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Harley Jane Kozak’s Dead Ex has just hit the bookshelves, and already it’s getting lots of buzz. Kozak made her name as an actor in films such as Parenthood and Arachnophobiaand soap operas like Guiding Light. Then she turned her eye to writing and launched the Wollie Shelley mystery series, winning the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and the Toby Bromberg Award for Most Humorous Mystery for her debut Dating Dead Men, an especially nice trick. Dating Is Murder soon followed, along with more accolades. Dead Exis the third outing for the spunky Ms. Shelley, an L.A. greeting card artist and amateur sleuth. When her friend Joey becomes the prime suspect in a murder, Shelley sets out to prove Joey is innocent. Of course, there are all the requisite twists, turns and trip-ups (for one thing, the dead guy is Wollie’s ex-boyfriend). Dead Ex has been described as a “laugh-out-loud whodunit.” If you’re wondering how murder can be funny, it’s not so much the dying part that’s funny, it’s what the survivors do afterwards that is. A Hollywood insider, Kozak peoples her books with quirky daytime television stars, crazed paparazzi, overly dedicated cops and slippery lovers. It’s sort of chick-lit-meets-black-comedy, or Miss Marple in heels.
Tue., Aug. 21, 6:30 p.m.