The James Murray Mysteries Companion

James Murray was a young man with a dream: to be a writer like his idol Dashiell Hammett. He realized his dream -- and so much more -- in The James Murray Mysteries. This five-book series takes place in 1930s Los Angeles and includes the novels "Murder at Eastern Columbia," "Sabotage at RKO Studio," "Abduction at Griffith Observatory," "Blackmail at Wrigley Field" and "Haunting at Ocean House." These stories follow young-writer James from his first job at a swank department store to a mildly successful first novel that leads him to a famed Hollywood movie studio, to solving the case of a kidnapped scientist, helping a blackmailed baseball star and then helping solve the mystery of a famous movie actress haunted by the ghost of a dead relative. Along the way, he finds love, experiences loss, exposes a potentially fatal weakness in himself, gets back on track and then finds the love of his life as the clouds of war in Europe loom over the horizon.Each novel is actually two novels in one: two parallel stories featuring two heroes, working two mysteries in two different versions of 1930s Los Angeles. James and his his hard-boiled alter ego -- neither a private detective nor a police officer: just someone "who wants to help" -- unravel mysteries and meet some interesting denizens of Los Angeles past. The 1930s were a long time ago and Los Angeles a very different world. The novels are littered with references that might not be familiar to everyone. Here, then, is a collection of information with the aim of expanding on the five novels, of explaining some of the more esoteric references that might not be known to all readers, to help the decade come alive. For example: What actual people were the basis for the mysterious Miss Compton and the dashing Buddy Rogers in the first novel? What was the origin of Scott Hobby in the second novel? Who is the real person behind the fictional scientist in the third novel? (Hint: he's not a scientist!) Baseball is the setting for the fourth novel. Why? Who are some of the famous Hollywood stars who have cameos in the fifth novel? You'll also discover the author's favorite actress, his favorite movie, his favorite dessert, his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles and how a real-life medical condition was used to inform two of the novels.