One Death at a Time

January 1, 2025

Waxman (Christa Comes Out of Her Shell; Adult Assembly Required) turns from pop fiction to mystery with this novel featuring an unlikely pair of sleuths. Julia Mann was once a big Hollywood star; now she is a newly sober lawyer who tries to stick it to authority. When she discovers the dead body of her Hollywood nemesis in her swimming pool, she hightails it from the cops. Julia has only a foggy memory of the night before and realizes she needs help. Then she runs into Natasha Mason, a smart yet sarcastic Gen-Zer, at her AA meeting. Julia both despises Mason and enjoys her ability to roll with the punches. Together, the two take matters into their own hands and decide to solve the murder. Amateur sleuths at best, the dynamic duo follow leads across the Hollywood Hills and through the country clubs of Palm Springs, gathering an eclectic cast of characters along the way. VERDICT Full of the witty banter and laugh-out-loud scenarios readers have come to expect from Waxman, this raucous romp around Tinseltown with an odd couple of sleuths will delight readers.--Alicia Cerone

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February 15, 2025
A former actress who's already served time for murder finds her freedom in jeopardy again--and her only ally is her Gen Z sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous. Can prison harden a heart you don't have? Hollywood's Julia Mann went from It Girl to established actress to inmate to...whatever someone is after they get out of prison. Julia's 15 years behind bars yielded a law degree and an undying commitment to proving her innocence. But if she can't clear her own name, at least she can help others. Whatever motivates her, she's dedicated to fighting the man, which may mean going up against the broader system of injustice or, because it's Hollywood, just one jerk at a time. Now, having failed to prevent her own conviction for murdering her husband, Jonathan, Julia looks likely to go down for a second time when her former collaborator and renowned enemy Tony Eckenridge is found floating in the pool Julia's kicking her toes in. Like so many alcoholics, Julia doesn't remember a thing, so for maybe the first time in her life, she's beholden to others for help--a recipe for disaster. And the others in question aren't always sure they want to help her, at least not in the ways she's asking. Natasha Mason, her sponsor at AA, wants to keep her sober, and Archie Jacobson, her lawyer, wants to keep her out of jail without stirring the pot. But stubborn Julia won't let a good lead go, and even as she draws closer to fulfilling her star-making filmThe Codex's curse, she might be able to discover the truth about Jonathan in her quest to prove her innocence. Sharp and clever and knows it, just like its heroine.

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March 1, 2025
Waxman turns to a Hollywood mystery in her latest (after Christa Comes out of Her Shell, 2024). Uber driver Natasha Mason meets aging actress Julia Mann at an AA meeting and agrees to be Julia's sponsor/assistant. Natasha's first assignment is to help Julia find out who left a dead body in her pool. Julia's certain she didn't kill him, even though she tends to black out and has forgotten that night entirely, and she was recently released from jail for her husband's murder. (She didn't do that either.) Her own life being nothing to write home about, Natasha finds herself adopted into Julia's ragtag crew, whose attempts to solve the murder include encounters with cat burglars, burlesque dancers, dead aquarium fish, Hollywood starlets, and a giant martini glass. The witty banter between Natasha and Julia carries the novel, resulting in great fun and lots of laughs if a few too many characters. The ending leaves room to kick off a new series; give this to readers of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan series and Jesse Q. Sutanto's Meddy Chan and Vera Wong series.

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