The Californian

"On the morning of July 2, 1933, the lifeless body of Lucien Dubois is found in his seventh-floor room in the hotel where he works -- The Californian in Santa which is frequented by Hollywood glitterati and tourists drawn to the beach and the hotel's popular speakeasy. It's the big July Fourth weekend, and also the hotel's one year anniversary. Owner Mark Prism hopes to keep a lid on the bad news. Based on the recommendation of Los Angeles police Detective Jack Stark, he hires Murphy...
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"On the morning of July 2, 1933, the lifeless body of Lucien Dubois is found in his seventh-floor room in the hotel where he works -- The Californian in Santa which is frequented by Hollywood glitterati and tourists drawn to the beach and the hotel's popular speakeasy. It's the big July Fourth weekend, and also the hotel's one year anniversary. Owner Mark Prism hopes to keep a lid on the bad news. Based on the recommendation of Los Angeles police Detective Jack Stark, he hires Murphy to investigate the cause of the chef's death. It doesn't take long for the 30-year old PI to determine that Dubois has been poisoned. Together with his new partner and main squeeze, Monica Stone, Murphy sets out to solve the murder. Dubois was known as a playboy, so was his killer a spurned lover? An angry husband? Or perhaps his death was related to gambling debts from frequent trips to a casino barge, the SS Crown, docked offshore: the Crown is also a liquor suppler for the Californian's Anchor Bar speak-easy. Dubois was ... responsible for purchasing beverages for the club, which sug-gests a possible mob connection to his demise. Murphy works his sources, while Stone goes undercover as a dance hostess in the club and on the Crown. ...""...Kelly's historical mystery is ...intriguing for its portrayal of 1930s LA...." Kirkus Reviews