Description
Alyson Colton, a popular romance novelist looking for the spark that revives her spirit and refreshes her career, jumps at the opportunity to rewrite a film script at Epic Films. Traveling with Robert, her toy poodle — the French pronunciation, s'il vous plait — and her aunt's dog, Marcel, she moves into a bungalow at Epic for what she thinks will be a few weeks of hard work.
While she races to finish the new script, an unexplained death and accidental poisoning of two actors gives Robert — a canine with a nose for detection and a passion for justice — unexpected commissions. And his investigation expands when a secret webcam surveillance network is discovered.
But it is Hannelore Lofquist, the studio's production coordinator and unexpected replacement for the lead actress, who captivates Alyson. Is this the spark she's been seeking? At this factory of make-believe, is Hannelore who she claims to be? And will interaction with the studio's many debased personalities destroy Alyson's soul?
Just as the movie wraps, Alyson is abducted and held within the vast subterranean labyrinth of the Back Lot. Will Robert, aided by the Order — bit players when they're not conducting Mesolithic Age rituals — reach her before she too becomes a victim? And is he acting from his commitment to duty or something deeper than even he understands?
Also by Arthur Day, The Dog Books – Eight Tails in Noir, eight offbeat short-stories featuring a canine perspective on the human condition: Scratch Me Where it Hurts; Down, My Love; The Adventure of the Spotted Tongue; Show Me the Cat; After Dinner, My Sweet; End of My Leash; Peril at Chateau Le Feu; and Payment in Fur