Death of the Office Witch

Marlys Millhiser

Charlie Green works on Wilshire Boulevard as a literay agent for writers, especially screen writers. She is a single mom in a high pressure job. When she arrives late to work one morning, the office receptionist, Gloria, is missing. Charlie had talked with Gloria on her way into the office that day. Yet now she is gone and does not return.

Charlie hears Gloria's voice claiming she is in a garbage can. Instead, Gloria's body is later found on top of some bushes near the office building. Who hit Gloria with a blunt instrument, then dragged her into the bushes? A Beverly Hills police lieutenant is convinced Charlie is psychic and can help him solve this crime. She thinks he is crazy, but is coerced into helping him.

She discovers Gloria was a practicing witch. Gloria and her husband had been publishing a newsletter that was getting distributed nationally. Also, Gloria had secrets on almost everyone in the agency and was using them for subtle blackmail. Yet who would have killed Gloria for those reasons? Charlie is drawn into the search for the truth

Meanwhile, she is dealing with a 15-year-old daughter in a rebellious stage. She is trying to have a best-selling author and a screen writer work together to turn the novel into a movie. The two are constantly at odds. Charlie is pitching a mystery show format for one of her up and coming writers to CBS. She is tying together their agency's acquisition to the rights of another novel to translate into a movie. One of her daughter's friends runs away from home and moves in with them. Another friend is trying to fix her up with his single father. Her stomach is roiling. Is it just the stress of her life, or does Charlie have an ulcer?

I enjoyed this book, but it never quite pulled together into a well woven novel. All the parts came together too quickly at the end. There is also a scene close to the end that brings Charlie in peril, but does not tie in with the death of the secretary. Of course in real life extraneous things happen as well, so perhaps this could be a reason. Yet the scene was not necessary to the telling of a good story.

I'm not giving up on Charlie Green. This is the second novel in a series. I'll have to check the first one, then decide whether to follow the series further. I know how good Millhiser's work can be.

Murder at Moot Point
Death of an Office Witch
Murder in a Hot Flash
It's Murder Going Home
Nobody Dies in a Casino
Killer Commute
The Rampant Reaper

Murder Makes Waves by Anne George