Lee Martin: Murder at the Blue Owl (USA 1990)

From the Publisher:
FADE TO BLACK
Fort Worth detective Deb Ralston, happily pregnant at forty-two, hopes for a relaxing weekend at the house party of faded movie queen Margali Bowman. Relaxing until, in the tradition of the great melodramas from the 194os, the eccentric, alcoholic Margali pulls Debra aside to confide someone is trying to kill her.

Arsenic-laced soda pop convinces Deb that Margali isn't just putting on a show -- especially when the fallen star is murdered in her private little screening theater, The Blue Owl. The plot is vintage Agatha Christie. A glamorous house party. A grisly murder. A roomful of suspects... all watching fervently as yesterday's black-and-white secrets are re-released in glorious, blood-red Technicolor.

"Deb Ralston is a fiesty detective." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer
"If l were ever in trouble I'd pray for someone like Deb Ralston... to catch the squeal." -- Chicago-Sun Times
"Meticulously detailed police procedures." -- Kirkus Reviews

Lee Martin: Murder at the Blue Owl. A Deb Ralston Mystery. Worldwide, ISBN: 0373260547 (August, 1990), 221 p., $3.50.