Toronto screenwriter Mitchell Draper is down on his luck. He's lost his lackluster job on the kids' show Five Fun Fish, and has a month to wait until his next depressing writing gig begins. In the meantime, he plans to churn out a blockbuster screenplay with all the right elements: sex, violence, money, celebrities, and the supernatural. How fitting, then, that a series of disconcerting visions leads him to the heart of a celebrity murder-suicide of the 1970s that took place in the mansion where his friend Ramir is being drawn into a new religion founded by the charismatic Dr. Bhandari. Surrounded by aging socialites, actors, artists, psychics, and cult leaders, it's hard for Mitchell to tell what's real. But the power of his visions--and the offer of a six-figure contract from a tall, dark, and handsome movie executive--encourages him to find the real culprit behind the long-ago deaths. Witty and well-plotted, with sharply defined characters, Making a Killing is a worthy sequel to the first in this mystery series, Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture. --Regina Marler


From Publishers Weekly
Dunford's immensely satisfying sequel to last year's Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture picks up several years later with the same appealing characters. Soon found fledgling Toronto screenwriter Mitchell Draper and his friends Ingrid and Ramir in a sendup of crime dramas and Mafia Princess potboilers. This latest venture is a smart and self-aware parody of gothic murder mysteries, complete with a bevy of suspects, hidden staircases in a spooky mansion ("the kind of house that had inspired the game of Clue"), ancient secrets and even a giant party at the end that brings all the suspects back to the scene of the crime. Alert readers will catch references to Rosemary's Baby, The Haunting of Hill House and Scooby Doo. The biggest surprise is the book's gradual slide from hilarious homage to an honest-to-goodness locked-door mystery. Few will guess the outcome of the clever twists that tantalize until the final pages. Mitchell's idea that a 20-year-old father-son murder-suicide would make a blockbuster movie script finds him investigating the long-closed case and discovering new facts that may endanger him and his cohorts. Meanwhile, Ingrid is attempting reconciliation with her ex-husband, and Ramir has joined a charismatic cult whose leader was intimately involved in the tragedy. New characters are especially well drawn, notably dying designer Cortland McPhee, aging sexpot Gabriella Hartman ("one of Entertainment Weekly's 101 Stars Who Just Won't Give Up") and her Thelma Ritter-like psychic adviser Jane Choy. While some readers will be eager to see what genre Dunford turns his comedic talents to next, others will hope he settles into mystery for good. (Nov.)Forecast: The campy jacket photo of a screaming woman plays directly to Dunford's hip, mostly gay target audience. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Struggling gay Canadian screenwriter Mitchell Draper, first encountered in Dunford's Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture (2000), is newly fired from his job writing a kids' TV show about fish when his actor friend, Ramir, persuades him to attend the introductory meeting of a supernatural celebrity cult. The event's setting--in a creepy Gothic mansion in which a teenager killed his father and himself 20 years ago--sparks Mitchell's blocked imagination. Soon, a yummy Hollywood producer becomes interested in Mitchell and a new screenplay, to the tune of, say, $800,000, which spurs the young writer into investigating the old crime. He interviews the perp's surviving sister and old high-school friends, and he also becomes increasingly prone to ghostly visions of the fateful night as well as to speculation about how much unseen forces at the cult meeting have rubbed off on him. Is the long-dead teen trying to reach Mitchell, and if so, why? What with celebrities, sex, and ghosts that go bump in the night, Dunford has crafted a fast-paced page-turner. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Doug Guinan, author of California Screaming
"Hilarious!"


Book Description
When we left him at the end of Soon to be a Major Motion Picture, struggling screenwriter Mitchell Draper was happy to have escaped with his life from his last assignment. But that doesn't stop him from digging into a 20-year-old murder-suicide as meat for a new screenplay that might net him $800,000 from a sexy movie producer who seems just as interested in Mitchell as in his story. Once again, novelist Warren Dunford has created a hilariously satirical study of celebrity culture that pokes good-natured fun both at the insiders and those on the outside desperate to get in.


About the Author
Warren Dunford is the author of the novel Soon to be a Major Motion Picture. His stories have appeared in Quickies 2 as well as numerous men's magazines. He makes his living as a freelance copywriter in Toronto, where is hard at work on his next book.


Excerpted from Making a Killing by Warren Dunford. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From Chapter One FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 If you read this and I have become a New Age cult zombie, please help me.Being of sound mind and body as I type these words, I declare that I do not intend to join Ramir's cult tonight. And if I do join Ramir's cult through brainwashing or sheer force of peer pressure--then whoever reads this note has my full endorsement to kidnap and deprogram me as soon as possible.Not that having a free will is doing me much good. But at least I have my own neuroses and not some wacko cult leader's.For more than two months now, Ramir has been begging me and our friend Ingrid to come to an intro night for the Seven Gateways to Spiritual Success. We've always managed to politely yet firmly decline.But I guess I've been particularly vulnerable lately--after getting fired from Five Fun Fish, the pseudo-educational kids' TV show that's been my main source of income for the past two years. They always say cults prey on the weak.Anyway, last night Ramir, Ingrid, and I were out for dinner at our habitual Hungarian restaurant, and I admit I might have been whining--worrying yet again about the wreckage of my career. "My agent just signed me up to write for another kids' show--something about a spunky cat who explores the world. Travels with Willie." "That could be fun," Ing said, always eager to be optimistic. Then she winced. "It gives me the willies even to think about it," I said. "I don't want to get permanently stuck in kiddy schlock. I keep wondering if I'm a one-hit wonder. One movie. One book. And it's not as if either was a big hit in the first place." "They were both really good," Ingrid said for the ten-thousandth time, and Ramir nodded in agreement the way he always does.The three of us have been best friends for the last four years--supporting each other through various career ambitions, love affairs, and other personal traumas. "But the cat show doesn't start until next month," I explained, "and that means I've got four weeks to myself. And I've realized that I need to jump through my window of opportunity before it closes for good." "So what are you going to do?" Ramir asked. "I'm going to write the best screenplay of my life. Something totally commercial. A shameless box-office smash that'll help me get rich quick. Because a big-budget movie can pay a writer a million dollars. And once I have some cash behind me, I won't need to feel insecure like this all the time."I could tell Ingrid was doubtful of my strategy. "So what are you going to write?" "I'm still not sure about that part. I want to come up with a really catchy plot. Some sure-fire hook. But I can't think of anything. It's like I've hit a wall."That's when Ramir lunged in for the kill. He set his raspberry soda on the table and radiated an expression of serene wisdom. "You know, Mitch, a lot of people say Dr. Bhandari has given them a creative breakthrough. You should really come to a meeting." "Okay, I'll go," I said. I don't know what made me say it. Ingrid glared at me as if I'd gone insane. Then Ramir grabbed hold of her hand. "You should come too." "Tomorrow's no good," she said. "I have to finish another painting for the show."Damn her quick thinking. Because in five minutes Ramir is picking me up to escort me to the cult.I will now print out this document and stick it to my fridge--in case I inadvertently participate in a ritual mass suicide.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When we left him at the end of Soon to be a Major Motion Picture, struggling screenwriter Mitchell Draper was happy to have escaped with his life from his last assignment. But that doesn't stop him from digging into a 20-year-old murder-suicide as meat for a new screenplay that might net him $800,000 from a sexy movie producer who seems just as interested in Mitchell as in his story. Once again, novelist Warren Dunford has created a hilariously satirical study of celebrity culture that pokes good-natured fun both at the insiders and those on the outside desperate to get in.

Author Biography: Warren Dunford is the author of the novel Soon to be a Major Motion Picture. His stories have appeared in Quickies 2 as well as numerous men's magazines. He makes his living as a freelance copywriter in Toronto, where is hard at work on his next book.

FROM THE CRITICS

Doug Guinan

Hilarious!

Michael Thomas Ford

The perfect literary cocktail: one part Agatha Christie, one part Armistead Maupin, and a healthy jigger of Jackie Collins. Warren Dunford has concocted an intoxicating mystery that will go straight to your head and leave you looking at your empty glass and wishing there were more.

Publishers Weekly