Murder at Hollywood High

by Bruce Kimmel

Teenager Adriana Hofstetter is quite possibly one of a kind. She hates all things "now"-including MySpace, cell phones, and anything trendy-and she has no use for partying, getting wasted or being stupid. She dresses in clothes from her favorite decades-the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s-much to the derision of her fellow students at Hollywood High, who think she is a joke. She's on her way to becoming the star of her journalism class. Her teachers adore her, just as much as her fellow students abhor her. She has one loyal and true friend, Billy Feldman, who is as much of an outsider as she is. She has a mother who listens to Pink Floyd, Cream, and Isaac Hayes at ear splitting levels, a peculiar cat named Furball, and an ancient, ineffectual computer that crashes if she happens to glance in its direction. Then, one day, someone from Hollywood High is found murdered. A suspect is arrested and charged. And Adriana Hofstetter finds herself forced to become a pint-sized amateur sleuth, who, in the guise of doing a story for the school newspaper, must put all her journalism lessons to use in order to solve a murder she knows the accused didn't commit. Murder at Hollywood High is a very funny, suspenseful mystery, replete with colorful Los Angeles locales, disbelieving detectives, suspects lurking around every locker, and a fifteen-year-old heroine who is off-the-wall, endearing and not to be messed with.

188 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2007

About the author

Bruce Kimmel wrote, directed and starred in the cult movie hit, The First Nudie Musical (available on a Special Edition Blu-ray). He also co-created (with David Wechter) the story for the hit film, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. As an actor, Mr. Kimmel guest-starred on most of the long-running television shows of the 1970s.

Since 1993, Mr. Kimmel has been one of the leading producers of theatre music on CD, having produced over 180 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy for producing the revival cast album of Hello, Dolly! and his album with jazz pianist Fred Hersch, I Never Told You, was also nominated for a Grammy. He has produced solo albums for Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Jason Graae, Liz Callaway, Christiane Noll, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Sally Mayes, and many others. He has a successful record label, Kritzerland, which has released over 400 CDs.

His musical, The Brain From Planet X (written with David Wechter) has been seen in Los Angeles, New York, the UK, Canada (in both French and English), Australia and other fun places. Most recently, he is the creator/writer/director of the new short form comedy series Sami, now showing on Amazon Prime Video and garnering rave reviews and several festival wins around the country for Best Web Series and Best Director.

Mr. Kimmel is the author of twenty-nine books – his acclaimed Benjamin Kritzer trilogy (Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time), the mysteries Writer’s Block and Rewind, his seven Adriana Hofstetter mysteries (Murder At Hollywood High, Murder At The Grove, Murder At The Hollywood Historical Society, and Murder At The Masquers, Murder at the School Musical, Murder at the Hollywood Division, and Murder at the Magic Castle), Patrick Bronstein Presents, Thrill Ride, his collection of short fiction, How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories, Red Gold, his two memoirs (There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You - My Life In The Slow Lane and the follow up, Album Produced By... More of my Rollercoaster Life). GEE, Simply: A Lifetime of Lyrics, Some Days Are Murder, and its sequel, Tis the Season to Be Murdered, Preview Harvey, the new Benjamin Kritzer novel, Kritzer World, Directed by, Vegas Can Be Murder, Richard and Me a memoir about his long and wonderful friendship with Richard M. Sherman of the Sherman Brothers, and his latest two novels - Person Unknown, a thriller, and Iris, a book for readers from seven to ninety-nine.

Reviews

[Julie Perham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you looking for a quick, entertaining read that won't require extensive thought? Did you love Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden as a child? If so, this book may be for you.

Adriana Hofstetter is a student at Hollywood High in 2007, although she believes she lives in the wrong time. She loves vintage clothing, journalism class and her best friend Billy. When Billy is accused of murdering a school bully, Adriana decides to clear him by writing her own investigative piece for the school paper.

This book is not great literature and some of the writing was a bit clunky, but I enjoyed the characters and it made me remember those old Nancy Drews from my childhood. There are several more in the series and while I won't run right out and download them, if my reading shelf is looking light or I'm wanting some easy readers, I may pick up another one!