MURDER AT THE PALACE

An LA film buff fleeing her cheating spouse discovers a ragtag
bunch of misfits—some alive, some dead, and some in between.

San Francisco promises a refuge for Southern California native
Nora Paige, whose movie-star husband, Ted Bishop, has run off with his gorgeous
young co-star. Her best friend, showrunner Roberta Prowse, offers Nora a cottage
in Presidio Heights along with a slightly threadbare movie house to manage. The
Palace is a niche theater that specializes in the classic films Nora loved as a
child. And her encyclopedic knowledge of film history allows her to craft
showings like a Stanley Donen triple bill that delight her loyal but aging
patrons. Naturally, a niche theater is staffed by what might be considered
niche personnel, including 80-something ticket taker Albert Lockhart, grumpy
projectionist Marty Abrams, and cheerful cashier Callie Gee, who berates Nora
for letting her “man-slut of a husband go off on location with the most beautiful
actress on the planet” but offers comfort in the form of a referral to Monica
Chen, proprietor of The Potent Flower, the neighborhood weed shop. The nichiest
of the Palace’s crew is undoubtedly usherette Trixie George, who died in 1937
but who’s eerily present to current-day Nora, one of the few living people who
can see her. Trixie provides Nora with a unique if dated orientation to the
Palace. She’s also the one best placed to help Nora figure out how former drug
lord Raul Acosta ended up dead in the Palace’s auxiliary ice machine. Tracking
Raul’s killer while riding herd on her eccentric staff provides Nora little
rest but ample distraction from Ted’s antics back home.

The series debut of the Palace Theater is edgy enough to push a
timeworn formula from the basement up to the balcony. Dumas adds just enough
zany to her mix to have readers lining up for more.