Close-Up

Close-Up: A Margot and Max Mystery
Kit Sloan
Oak Tree Press
November 2011
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-61009-033-9
222 pages
$ 14.95

What will people do to be famous? ..to have their fifteen minutes of fame? You can probably guess what normal people will do, but what about those in the movie business? What lengths will these people go to get into a film, be featured on television, or just to get some form of publicity?

Everyone is shocked when watching the news on television and seeing an elderly actress talking to a newscaster while her house is burning in the background. Besides being reminded of this person’s existence, Max and Margot view this and decide to invite this actress to play a part in their next movie as the zombie grandmother. Could the fire have been a coincidence? Could this be a set up to get the actress publicity and to remind people of her existence?

Max and Margot have their own movie production company and currently are creating a new-type of zombie movie. They begin their filming in Florida with the zombies coming out of the ocean. Also coincidentally, the containers holding the actors and actresses are covering an alligator hole. This definitely makes for interesting filming.

When the crew returns to California to conclude the filming, they are plagued with constant challenges and mysteries, most notably the elderly televised actress is dead. What looks like a heart attack is still being questioned by the medical examiner. Does anyone ever tell the whole truth about where they were?

With a typical Hollywood cast of characters, their eccentricities, greed, and ambition, Close-Up is a delightful romp of the behind-the-scenes action both filmed and in their everyday not-always-realistic life.

Close-Up is the ninth novel in the Max and Margot series. I look forward to more of this grounded couple from this creative author.