A Blood Red Rose — Jerry Buck

Movie idol Jock Newhall was murdered forty years ago and the unsolved murder has bubbled in a cauldron to become a legend. Producer Clark Kester asks screenwriter Pete Castle, a creator of detective series and movies, to find the killer, and to write the script for a television reality program recreating the murder -- tough enough assignment, which gets harder as Pete digs deeper into the case. Things turn deadly when Kester dies -- in exactly the same way, on the site of the original murder -- during a rehearsal. Pete's investigation stirs up old animosities, old secrets, and old ghosts, and beneath these secrets are more secrets -- deeper, darker, and more sinister. At Pete's side in this provocative, romantic, and atmospheric mystery are his ladylove, publicist Laurie Savage; his father; and the motley crew of his "rep company." Arrayed against him are all the forces of Hollywood, as Pete races to solve an ancient murder -- and stop more modern ones from happening.