Death Above the Line — Janet Dawson

"Jill McLeod is playing her real-life role as a Zephyrette in front of movie cameras after a director proclaims she''s ""perfect for the part"" in his film noir. Now she finds herself before the cameras in a Niles, California, warehouse that''s been turned into a movie set. Her temp job as an actress would be a lark if it weren''t for the dark emotions and conflicts swirling around the cast and crew. Some have secrets they''d rather not share, and antipathy toward a visiting studio executive who enjoys wielding his power. Someone winds up dead, and once again Jill is investigating a murder. Can she discover the murderer in a new and unfamiliar milieu before the real-life villain catches up with her? ""Above the line"" is a movie-business term referring to those responsible for creative contributions to a film-director, producer, scriptwriter, and leading actors. On a movie budget, those costs were listed above a line, with all others below it. Jill and the reader learn the meanings of this and many more pieces of show-biz jargon. The familiar phrase ""casting couch"" is one still familiar today, and it rears its ugly head here in 1953, long before #MeToo. More plot elements of the 1950s include the blacklist, homophobia, hobos riding the rails, and the Monuments Men recovering art stolen by the Nazis."