Best Performance by a Patsy — Stan Cutler

Rayford Goodman hadn't died--like all once great, macho Hollywood detectives, he just faded away. His greatest moment of glory had been when, as a private eye to the stars, he made headlines by singlehandedly breaking the American Beauty Rose case, a notorious movie-town murder of the '60s. Now, with fame and fortune on the wane, he's agreed to write a tell-all autobiography with hip, gay, would-be novelist Mark Bradley. But the retelling of this old story adds a whole new chapter when Bradley discovers that Goodman may have overlooked a few loose ends the first time around...and maybe--just maybe--the wrong guy was put away for life. It's all up to the most unlikely--and funniest--buddy-sleuths on the mystery scene to dig up the truth, plunging them deep into a world of the mob, the studio power brokers, and bloody murder--before the killer can direct what could be their farewell performance.