inTWINition of murder

Phil Brittenbeck, an identical twin from Portland, Oregon uses his inner twin intuition, or inTWINition to find the clues to help track down the killer of his beloved twin brother, Jerry. Jerry Brittenbeck was a well-established reality television producer and was found dead in his swanky Las Vegas casino hotel room. The police quickly ruled the death an accidental poisoning, but Phil wasn't convinced. In what started as a textbook death investigation was cracked wide open when Phil began communicating with his twin from beyond the grave. Phil was able to get clues the police either missed or tried to avoid seeing all along. The more Phil dug into the rushed investigation the more he realized his inTWINition said it was murder.

Phil Brittenbeck, an identical twin from Portland, Oregon uses his inner twin intuition, or inTWINition to find the clues to help track down the killer of his beloved twin brother, Jerry. Jerry's track record with women wasn't very good. Jerry's marriage ended after only four short years. The next real relationship was well, not real at all. In his twin brother's opinion, Jerry always picked the wrong girl to fall in love with. Enter his newest flame, Karen Phillips, a beautiful blonde California girl. What could possibly go wrong? Jerry Brittenbeck was a well-established reality television producer and was found dead in his swanky Las Vegas casino hotel room. The police quickly ruled the death a drug overdose, Phil wasn't convinced. The clues were not adding up and there were at least two women with enough motives to want see the reality producer dead. In what started as a textbook death investigation was turned upside down and cracked wide open when Phil began communicating with his twin from beyond the grave. Phil was able to get clues the police either missed or tried to avoid seeing all along. The ability to communication between twins, or not, itself was put on trial. Was Phil just a grieving nut job or was he really communicating with his dead brother in Heaven? And what would the legal ramifications be in this case if some of the evidence was between these twins who were communicating and conducting their own parallel investigations, one in heaven and one on earth ? All Phil Brittenbeck knew was that the more he dug into the rushed investigation the more he realized his inTWINition said it was murder.

Michael Houbrick is the author of the crime novel, “inTWINition of murder” and is the big cheese (author/illustrator) behind the creation of the children’s intellectual property, “The Rat Pack of Hollywood.” The Rat Pack of Hollywood is Houbrick’s make-believe utopia of where a pack of celebrity animated rats embark on a music career. 

Houbrick has a background that almost sounds unbelievable. Reared in Spokane, Washington, Houbrick was one of seven children raised by a single parent with a loving Christian upbringing. There were so many kids and only one bathroom, he had to stand in line and take a number. “It was just like Baskin-Robbins, without the ice cream” jokes Houbrick. With so many children fighting for his mom’s love and affection, Houbrick turned to humor to turn the spotlight inward. By the time he graduated from high school he had turned his household antics into routines - and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus recruited him for their world-renowned Clown College. After a couple of years of slapping on grease paint and clowning around for The Greatest Show on Earth, Houbrick left the fancy-pants world of the circus and headed back west for a career in Hollywood.

Comedy Clubs were a natural place for Houbrick to first call home in California. However, Houbrick’s attention soon focused on the gimmicky side of the Hollywood tinsel and he became a much sought after Hollywood publicist, working on more than 15 television series and 25 made-for-TV-movies for MCA Home Entertainment and Universal Studios. Eventually Houbrick’s reputation for being easy to get along with got him promoted. Houbrick quickly found himself with the opportunity to represent some top Hollywood celebrities as their agent, and later as their personal manager/producer.

Houbrick used his creativity and tenacity to promote his clients by creating projects for them to star in. Most notably was the television series, MADCAP MAGIC, which Houbrick created and served as co-executive producer. After more than 20 years, he grew wary of the Hollywood scene and  eventually cruised back to Spokane for a much slower paced life.

Life back in the Pacific Northwest was too slow for Houbrick. One frustrating day, while having a conversation with God, Houbrick thought, “What can I do now, God? I want to make a difference with my life. I can’t go back to Hollywood, because there is nothing there but a bunch of rats.” (insert a bolt of lightning here) It was at that moment an idea popped into Houbrick’s mind…What if Hollywood was actually taken over by rats? That simple idea became the mousetrap, err rattrap for, The Rat Pack of Hollywood™. A new family animated franchise was born!

The crime novel, “inTWINition of murder” was written as a way to deal with the tragic death of his beloved twin brother, Matthew.

Houbrick is single and currently divides his time between Spokane, Washington and Hollywood, California and is an emerging sought after motivational speaker who gives presentations about domestic violence, celebrity behavior and the bond between twins.