BURNING GARBO

Paparazza Nina Zero’s just trying to do her job, but people keep dying practically right under her lens.

For years now, reclusive Hollywood Angela Doubleday has just vanted to be alone, and a photo of her might fetch $50,000. But the $250 Nina gets up-front to stake out Angela’s place in the Malibu hills doesn’t begin to pay for what happens after she levels her camera. A man runs toward her, demanding the camera, then shoots it dead and knocks her out. When she comes to, the Doubleday place is in flames, and after she disobeys the cops and leaves the scene, Nina, still on parole after her stretch for manslaughter (Killing Paparazzi, 2001), is blamed for igniting a star so charred she has to be identified by dental records. Not one to take the harassment of Det. Ted Claymore lying down, Nina and Dog, the Rottweiler who’s followed her home, put their noses to the ground among members of Angela’s household—not a close-knit crowd, and even more stratified now by the wealth one of them has suddenly come into—and her relatives, most of whom haven’t seen her for as long as her fans. There’ll be time for further wisecracking, police intimidation, and a pair of high-octane showdowns before Angela’s finally laid to rest properly.

Despite the fireworks, bad-girl Nina’s third adventure is her most conventional whodunit. Expect her to be raising a family and baking cookies next time.