I had put down my copy of the Wall Street Journal to take a sip of coffee and respond to my ex-husband’s demand that I stop trying to get him a boyfriend.

“It takes risk to find something really special,” I said.

Jay shook his head, his chiseled cheekbones catching a little of the desert sun through the window.

“All I really want,” he said, “is to sell movie memorabilia during the day, and then go home to you and Bob Hope and Mae West. A simple, boring life—no excitement needed.”

Jay is my best friend, business partner and ex-husband, in descending order of importance. Our relationship is a little confusing for most people to understand, but it’s simple for me: We’ve loved each other unconditionally since we met in middle school, when we started performing as a musical duo in talent shows. Then we starred in a soap opera together and got married. Then both of us came out of the closet—ending our marriage and our careers, and destroying everything in our lives except our love for each other. That was twenty years ago. Now we just opened a Hollywood memorabilia store together.

Oh, I should add, before I forget, Bob Hope and Mae West are my dog and Jay’s cat, respectively, and they live with us in the Palm Springs house we share—for now. Though if I can have my little matchmaker way, Jay will soon be moving in with Simon Fletcher, a detective with the Palm Springs police, who currently suspects us of murder. Need to clear that up at some point too.

So, like I said, things are complicated. The only thing that saves it from being a complete mess is that my relationship with Jay is never complicated—it is, in some weird way, a perfect, uncomplicated love that could only ever exist between a lesbian and her gay ex-husband. I can’t explain it to you. Maybe my therapist could.

“Speaking of really special,” I said, providing him with a change of topic I knew he’d appreciate, “there’s an auction house in Dallas that has a gorgeous Edith Head sketch of Judy Garland—her costume design for Judy in I Could Go On Singing. It’s from 1963.”

Jay’s eyes lit up, his brow rising as far as the Botox would allow.

“What’s the estimate on it?” Jay said.

I told him.

He thought about that. “You know, if we stay open late during Pride Month, I can sell that for ten times that—there’s a lot of bars right down the street from the store.”

“The store” was Hooray for Hollywood, the Palm Springs movie memorabilia store we’d opened a few months ago. Business was slow, but there were signs it was picking up—and a successful business actually seemed possible, if we could get the murder investigation cleared up.

“I’m calling Simon,” I said.

“To try to get me a date?”

“No,” I said. “To try to convince him we didn’t actually kill Dylan Redman.”

“Do you have any idea who did?”

“I have an idea for how we might just be able to figure it out.”

“How?”

I told him.

Jay grinned. All that terror and risk aversion that came with any discussion of his love life was gone the moment he heard of my plan for him to go undercover to try to catch a killer. Jay was terrified of emotional risk, but was quite brave when it came to his physical safety.

“I’m in,” he said. A beat. “Can I wear one of the wigs from Cleopatra?”

“Those are worth a lot of money!”

“I wasn’t going to wear the Elizabeth Taylor one!”

Well, that was good at least. “Just be careful.”

“I won’t let anyone pull my hair.”

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A Killing in Costumes, A Hollywood Treasures Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: August 2022
Purchase Link

Stardom fades fast when you’re on the line for murder, in this debut cozy mystery perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Jenn McKinlay.

Jay Allan and Cindy Cooper were soap opera stars in the late ’90s, a wholesome young husband-and-wife duo who combined musical talent with humor and charisma. When the truth about their sexual orientations came to light, their marriage and TV careers ended, but decades later they have remained friends. Together, they open Palm Springs’ chicest movie memorabilia store, Hooray for Hollywood–but no customers and dwindling finances spell trouble.

A Hail Mary arrives in the form of Yana Tosh, a ninety-year-old diva of the silver screen who has amassed a valuable collection of costumes and props and is looking to sell. But first, Jay and Cindy have to beat their competition, a vice president from a mega-auction house with ten times their resources. And when he winds up dead, they become prime suspects in the murder.

With their freedom and livelihoods on the line, Jay and Cindy desperately need to clear their names. There are plenty of other potential suspects, but they’ll have to solve it soon before they’re forced to trade in their vintage costume collection for two orange jumpsuits.

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Meet the author
New York Times bestselling author Zac Bissonnette‘s most recent book is 2015’s The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. He is an equity analyst at a hedge fund, and lives in New York City with his partner and a tuxedo cat named Perry Como. 

GIVEAWAY: Zac has generously offered to give away one print copy of A Killing in Costumes. To enter, please leave a comment below. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends August 11, 2022. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.