Penzler Pick, March 2001: Hollywood mysteries are a popular subgenre. While some writers (Stuart M. Kaminsky, George Baxt, and Loren D. Estleman, for example) have made it their practice to depict a bygone Tinseltown, back when legends were deserving of the name, Jay Russell prefers the present time, in all its pecking-order-mad, insincerity-reeking and trend-crazed lunacy.

Welcome to the world of Marty Burns (hero of Celestial Dogs and Burning Bright), a former sitcom star turned private eye, now acting again in a souped-up version of his own life, the spoofy shamus series Burning Bright. While on episode hiatus, Marty's agreed to do a favor for Hall Emerson, one of his poker-game buddies, which involves looking for a print in the studio archives of a forgotten 1950 noir program, The Devil on Sunday. The late Frank Emerson, father of Hall, was the screenwriter for the flick. Now that there's talk of a remake, Hall's being tapped as a possibility for the screenplay job, with the paternal legacy angle looking like a publicity plus. The only trouble is, there seems to be a scene missing from the final cut of the original--a scene that Emerson pére didn't write--and Hall's hoping Marty will help him find a copy so he can see exactly what was in it.

The request seems simple enough, but this is a Jay Russell mystery, after all, and asking Marty for a favor in any of them usually involves his chasing some Hollywood version of the White Rabbit into a very dangerous Wonderland. But if Alice had her wide-eyed innocence for armor, the show biz veteran Marty's wisecracks are often all that stand between him and oblivion. The fun of Greed & Stuff, as with the two earlier books, is not just the story. It's perfect for anyone who welcomes an excuse to rummage around in the dusty storerooms of forgotten noir movie-making, while simultaneously satirizing its current hot status for Hollywood hipsters.

Jay Russell is a brave man. He spares no one, or rather, he spears everyone, from Calista Flockhart to Chris Carter, from Joel Schumacher to Joel Silver. Greed & Stuff is sharp, comic, and out there--a book for mystery readers not satisfied with tamer stuff. --Otto Penzler

From Publishers Weekly
Following Celestial Dogs (1997) and Burning Bright (1998), actor Marty Burns is back for another entertaining plunge into Hollywood noir. Marty has seen both sides of life in Lalaland--as a sitcom star in his teens and later as a private detective with a firsthand familiarity with the underbelly of Tinseltown. Finally back on top as star of a TV series, he's enjoying his beach house in Malibu, his weekly poker game and the good life, until poker buddy Hall Emerson asks a favor. Hall needs some missing footage from The Devil on Sunday, a classic noir film his father helped write. His mother, a featured player, was murdered during production and the killer never found. Hall's request propels Marty into that world where people reinvent themselves almost daily. Meanwhile Marty is waiting for word from his agent about his series renewal and a role in the remake of The Devil on Sunday. When Hall is found dead, an apparent suicide, Marty feels he owes him. First stop is the powerful blacklist hero and studio head, MacArthur Stans, who may hold the key to Hall's past. Russell casts this very showbizzy tale with an oddball selection of chasers-of-the-dream, including bikers, seedy dealers in memorabilia, gofers and a bartender or two, most of whom are not destined for the A list. Looking beneath the Big Orange, he has produced a thoughtful riff on truth, responsibility and the price to be paid for a few feet of celluloid. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Marty Burns, former teen sitcom star, sometime PI, and now a mellower, resurrected Hollywood talent playing a detective in his own series, investigates a film-noir script-revision deal proposed by a low-budget, two-faced producer. Coincidentally, the same producer offers Marty a role in said film but won't produce the script. When Marty's screenwriting client conveniently diesDa supposed suicideDMarty delves deeper, even badgering police for clues. Detailed descriptions, rococo familial relationships between actors and writers, characteristically snide remarks, and wry humor contribute to the wild L.A. scenario. Recommended. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Readers who like mysteries set in the world of entertainment will be delighted with the third Marty Burns novel. Burns, the actor-turned-private-eye-turned-actor-again, wanders into a long-buried mystery unearthed when Hollywood sets out to remake a classic film. When Marty's screenwriter friend turns up dead, an apparent suicide, Marty has to dig deep into the past to solve the case. The novel has strong, realistic characters and a solid plot. It's also a good deal more entertaining than its predecessor, Burning Bright (1998), mostly because of the clever way Russell packs the book with Hollywood references. Marty and his supporting cast pepper their dialogue with comments about well-known actors and producers, references that tend to assume the reader is well versed in the Tinseltown scene. It's all great fun, though much of the dialogue will be utterly baffling to readers to whom names like Michael Eisner, Dean Jones, and Chris Carter (to name but three) mean nothing. Still, the novel should be a big hit with its target audience. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
In 1996, actor/detective Marty Burns made his debut appearance in Celestial Dogs, a witty, stylish amalgam of Hollywood satire, P.I. drama, and supernatural thriller. Back then, Marty -- a former child television star -- had fallen on hard times and was eking out a modest living as a low-rent private investigator. In Greed & Stuff, the third entry in Jay Russell's consistently entertaining series (following Burning Bright,, Marty has managed to turn his life around. He has successfully reestablished himself in the Business, and is currently starring in a TV series called Burning Bright. At heart, however, he is still a detective, as his latest adventure makes abundantly clear.

Greed & Stuff begins when one of Marty's poker buddies, alcoholic scriptwriter Hall Emerson, asks for what appears to be a simple favor. Hall wants Marty to track down the print of a 50-year-old film entitled The Devil on Sunday, together with some rumored, possibly nonexistent missing footage. Hall has written the script for a high-profile remake of the movie, which played a crucial role in his own traumatic history. Hall's father, Frank Emerson, wrote -- or was credited with writing -- the original script; his mother, Connie Clare, who played a featured role, was raped and murdered midway through the filming. Marty agrees to look for the missing footage and finds himself embroiled in a sordid drama fueled by violence, sexual opportunism, and old-fashioned Hollywood venality.

Greed & Stuff is a funny, cynical, wised-up look at the tawdry reality that lurks beneath the glitzy surface of the Business. Its venomous observations on subjects ranging from the Baldwin brothers to Regis Philbin, its stubbornly maintained belief in the value of personal honor, and its clear-eyed assessment of a surreal cross-section of modern America give the novel an edgy, idiosyncratic quality that lifts it well above the level of its more generic competitors. Like its predecessors, Greed & Stuff possesses wit, intelligence, energy, and attitude to burn. I urge you to give it a try. (Bill Sheehan)

Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of Peter Straub, At the Foot of the Story Tree, has been published by Subterranean Press (www.subterraneanpress.com).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It's the story of a man named Marty.

Once he was a very busy TV sitcom star.

Then he kind-of burned out and became a washed-up private eye.

Now Marty Burns is back on television, playing a P.I. and trying to make rehashed "Hawaii Five-O" scripts sound convincing.

While he's waiting to find out if his show is renewed (it's not doing well with the 18-34 year-olds), Marty stumbles across an enigma involving the classic noir film The Devil on Sunday, a shady remake, and a very real corpse.

Greed & Stuff is Jay Russell's strongest novel yet—-a fast-moving, wise-cracking L.A. story peopled with fascinating characters, brimming with brio, and driven by a compelling mystery. This novel confirms Russell's standing as one of the hottest young voices in the mystery field.

Author Biography: JAY RUSSELL is the author of several novels, including two previous Marty Burns adventures, Celestial Dogs and Burning Bright. His short fiction has been collected in Waltzes and Whispers, which was a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection. His next book is a novel entitled Brown Harvest. He lives in London, England, with his wife and daughter.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Following Celestial Dogs (1997) and Burning Bright (1998), actor Marty Burns is back for another entertaining plunge into Hollywood noir. Marty has seen both sides of life in Lalaland--as a sitcom star in his teens and later as a private detective with a firsthand familiarity with the underbelly of Tinseltown. Finally back on top as star of a TV series, he's enjoying his beach house in Malibu, his weekly poker game and the good life, until poker buddy Hall Emerson asks a favor. Hall needs some missing footage from The Devil on Sunday, a classic noir film his father helped write. His mother, a featured player, was murdered during production and the killer never found. Hall's request propels Marty into that world where people reinvent themselves almost daily. Meanwhile Marty is waiting for word from his agent about his series renewal and a role in the remake of The Devil on Sunday. When Hall is found dead, an apparent suicide, Marty feels he owes him. First stop is the powerful blacklist hero and studio head, MacArthur Stans, who may hold the key to Hall's past. Russell casts this very showbizzy tale with an oddball selection of chasers-of-the-dream, including bikers, seedy dealers in memorabilia, gofers and a bartender or two, most of whom are not destined for the A list. Looking beneath the Big Orange, he has produced a thoughtful riff on truth, responsibility and the price to be paid for a few feet of celluloid. (Feb. 13) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal