Cast the First Stone (Ellie Stone Series #5)

by James W. Ziskin

Overview

February 1962: Tony Eberle has just scored his first role in a Hollywood movie, and the publisher of his hometown newspaper in upstate New York wants a profile of the local boy who's made good. Reporter Ellie Stone is dispatched to Los Angeles for the story. But when she arrives on set to meet her subject, Tony has vanished. The director is apoplectic, Tony’s agent is stumped, and the producer is found murdered. Ellie is on the story, diving headfirst into a treacherous demimonde of Hollywood wannabes, beautiful young men, desperately ambitious ingénues, panderers, and pornography hobbyists. Then there are some real movie stars with reputations to protect. To find the killer, Ellie must separate the lies from the truth, unearthing secrets no one wants revealed along the way. But before she can solve the producer’s murder, she must locate Tony Eberle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633882812
Publisher:	Seventh Street Books
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Series:	Ellie Stone Series , #5
Pages:	303
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

James W. Ziskin is the author of the Ellie Stone mysteries. Winner of the Anthony® Award for Best Paperback Original and the Macavity Award for Best Historical Novel (Sue Feder Memorial), his books have also been finalists for the Edgar®, Barry, and Lefty awards.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/03/2017
Set in February 1962, Edgar-finalist Ziskin’s riveting fifth Ellie Stone mystery (after 2016’s Heart of Stone) takes the intrepid reporter from New Holland, N.Y., to Hollywood, Calif., to profile Tony Eberle, a New Holland native recently cast in his first film. Tony has disappeared with no explanation, however, and when the police find the body of the movie’s producer, he quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. With her own career at stake, Ellie races to solve the crime and prove Tony’s innocence. Her search is complicated by the machinations of a conniving female studio executive, whose own career hinges on concealing actors’ and producers’ unsavory activities. Ziskin’s depiction of the era’s everyday sexism, homophobia, and racism is pitch-perfect, and Ellie’s narration adds compassion and humanity to sensitive topics. Complex, richly drawn supporting characters—a crude but conscientious cop; Tony’s roommate, who prostitutes himself to help the actor’s career; their wickedly funny landlady; a middle-aged reporter struggling after a recent layoff—round out the cast. Agent: William Reiss, John Hawkins & Associates. (June)

Publishers Weekly

ELLIE STONE MYSTERIES HAVE BEEN FINALISTS FOR THE EDGAR, ANTHONY,  BARRY, AND LEFT COAST CRIME “LEFTY” AWARDS
 
"The best current mystery series around."
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
 
"Ellie Stone is my number one pick for a fictional best friend."
—The Suspense is Thrilling Me

“Ellie Stone is the perfect protagonist—extraordinary but with enough girl-next-door charm in her that she instantly becomes a friend.”  
—Allen Eskens, USA Today-bestselling author of The Life We Bury
 
"Ellie Stone is nothing short of charming. Read Cast the First Stone and you’ll likely soon find yourself reading all of Ziskin’s Ellie Stone books.”
—Durango Telegraph

“Ziskin’s writing displays a remarkable command of words, building them into a complex and convincing set and cast of characters.”
–Suspense Magazine
 
“Ellie is one of my favorite characters in the genre. Her intelligence and fearlessness belie her youth. She’s at once vulnerable yet self-assured, intelligent yet impulsive, liberated yet yearning for a romantic connection. But what really sets Ziskin’s books apart is the poetry of his writing—a linguist by training, he excels at poetic and evocative descriptions of the fascinating characters and the nostalgic 1960’s upstate New York setting.”
—MysteryPeople
 
“James W. Ziskin is someone I can recommend to anyone who likes good mysteries. He has universal appeal.”
—Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine
 
“Smart, relevant, and thoroughly compelling .... [I'm] eagerly awaiting Ellie Stone's next adventure.”
—Reviewing the Evidence

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
Reporter Ellie Stone heads to Hollywood to profile Tony Eberle, a local boy from upstate New York who's appearing in his first movie. Yet, Tony was fired for not appearing on set the same day the producer of the film is found murdered. Now he's disappeared, and Ellie is desperate for a story. Although a little naïve when it comes to 1962 Hollywood, Ellie's savvy enough to track down a killer. Hollywood politics, sexual innuendo, a little humor, and a clever sleuth all combine in this fifth (after Heart of Stone) series adventure from Edgar Award nominee Ziskin.—LH

Library Journal

2017-03-21
An unsought assignment sends reporter Ellie Stone from upstate New York to Hollywood in the rainy month of February 1962.New Holland doesn't send many natives to La-La Land, and Ellie's editor, Charlie Reese, thinks his readers will want to know how Tony Eberle is faring as the second lead in the monumental epic Twistin' on the Beach. The answer is not well at all: he's gone AWOL, Paramount has fired him from the picture, and he'll never eat lunch in this town again. Foiled in her attempt to get the easy story, Ellie (Heart of Stone, 2016, etc.) grits her teeth and goes after the tough one, which depends on her finding Tony when no one else can. At first there's little competition for the honor, because once he's been let go, Tony is the lowest of the low, and no one cares where he is. But the news that Twistin' producer Bertram Wallis has also disappeared along with the script he wrote for the film The Colonel's Widow makes Paramount fixer Dorothy Fetterman much more interested in tracking down Tony. And when Wallis turns up dead in a ravine outside his hillside house's deck, Sgt. John L. Millard, LAPD, joins the hunt. Ellie, who keeps swearing she just wants to meet William Hopper of Perry Mason fame, ends up nosing into every hiding spot in Los Angeles County in search of Tony, his girlfriend, April Kincaid, and that missing script. Her discovery of two out of the three leads to even deeper waters and the suspicion that everyone in Tinseltown is either gay or conspiring against her—except, possibly, for William Hopper. Ziskin's nice-but-no-nonsense hero is out seriously past her depth in these fleshpots, where, as she aptly notes, she can't trust a single person. Readers will end up rooting for her to get sent back to the East Coast, where people just murder each other.

Kirkus Reviews