POPPY HARMON AND THE BACKSTABBING BACHELOR

What seems like a simple case thrusts Palm Springs private eye Poppy Harmon and her associates at the Desert Flowers Detective Agency into danger.

Poppy, a retired actress, reinvented herself as a detective when her husband died and left her penniless, and even though she's good at it, she had to hire an aspiring actor named Matt to play agency head Matt Flowers in order to be taken seriously. In her latest case, she disguises herself as a woman in her 90s in order to flush out a gang of grifters preying on the elderly. Since their last case landed Matt an acting gig in Europe, Poppy and her friends Iris and Violet are on their own when the boyfriend of one of the grifters starts stalking Poppy. Then she loans her car to a neighbor, who’s run off the road—a sure sign that the stalker’s out for blood. When Poppy finds the stalker’s lair, he escapes but leaves behind plenty of evidence. Apparently he’s a lot like the talented Mr. Ripley, a man with many identities, and he seems to have a fascination with TV reality star Jessie Walters, who’s preparing to headline the new show My Dream Man. Despite Poppy’s best efforts, Jessie and her manager don’t believe that she’s in danger. When the stalker bombs Poppy’s house, she pretends to have been killed and schemes to get Matt on the show as one of the dream men, disguising herself as his elderly aunt and adviser. Now all they have to do is uncover which of the contestants is the killer.

Plenty of quirky characters enhance this compelling display of bravery in the face of danger.