Kelly Durham

When young Lizzie Scott becomes embroiled in scandal just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she resolves to leave her small hometown and find work in exotic New Orleans. Her brother Paul, a merchant mariner, is already living in the Crescent City and Lizzie is determined to make a fresh start by beginning her career there as a secretary. She bunks with her brother at Mrs. Gresham's boarding house, where her genteel landlady becomes a surrogate mother and the other boarders an extended family. Lizzie lands a job with defense contractor Hogan Marine. She also falls for her brother's shipmate, the handsome and enigmatic Juan Acosta. As the war heats up, Lizzie and her colleagues battle bureaucracy, betrayal, and espionage to help equip America's fighting forces with the tools of victory. Lizzie's romance with Juan reaches a puzzling crossroads just before disaster-and then mystery-strike. Navigating romance in time of war, Lizzie is forced to reconcile trust and suspicion, love and forgiveness. Praise for Kelly Durham's The Movie Star and Me: "...carefully styled, thoughtfully developed, and thoroughly enjoyable... riveting ... the right balance of suspense and romance... a very fun story worthy of a full recommendation." 5 of 5 Stars. Sarah Guller, San Francisco Book Review

CAN THE FIRST LADY SAVE AN INNOCENT WOMAN'S LIFE?Eleanor Roosevelt was a tremendous advocate for victims of misjustice, but she may have met her match in Jim Crow Georgia. A black woman sits on death row awaiting her date with the electric chair for a crime she didn't commit. Even with the help of the President's secretary, Marguerite LeHand, and FBI agent Corey Wainwright, the First Lady battles racial prejudice and the ticking of the executioner's clock. Devious Hollywood reporter Joan Roswell and glamorous starlet Ida Lupino round out the cast in this fast-paced story, set in Warm Springs, Georgia, home of FDR's beloved Little White House.Kelly Durham, author of eight thrillers set against the backdrops of World War II and the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Kathryn Smith, author of Missy LeHand's biography THE GATEKEEPER, deliver again in the third Missy LeHand Mystery."The series-defining Hollywood-Washington connection is now established. Add in Missy's assistant Grace Tully and handsome FBI agent Corey Wainwright and the whole gang is back together, taking readers on another vivid and engaging visit to the 1930s, this time focusing on the Jim Crow South. Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell provides the episode's celebrity cameo appearance...Despite the seriousness in theme, the breezy prose is filled with humorous interludes, and the portrait of an indefatigable and earnest Mrs. Roosevelt is delightful. An enjoyable ensemble cast skillfully beefs up an uncomplicated crime plot; a quick, fun read with unsavory secondary characters and salient historical tidbits." -- Kirkus Reviews

ARE THE RUSSIANS INFLUENCING THE ELECTION? It's January 1936, and Hollywood star Ginger Rogers arrives in Washington for the annual President's Birthday Ball, a fundraiser for the polio patients at Warm Springs, Georgia. When the security detail goes missing after the ball, Ginger joins the President's secretary, Missy LeHand, to deposit more than $20,000 raised at the ball, but they are hijacked on the way to the bank. Who took the money? Was it a common criminal, or is someone trying to embarrass FDR as he faces re-election? Or could it be something more insidious? Missy, FBI Agent Corey Wainwright, and that bad-girl reporter Joan Roswell join forces to crack this complex case. Kelly Durham, author of eight thrillers set against the backdrops of World War II and the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Kathryn Smith, author of Missy LeHand's biography THE GATEKEEPER, team up again in the second Missy LeHand Mystery.

It's 1954 and the motion picture business is in a slump. Frank Russell and his colleagues at Pacific Pictures must overcome the growing influence of television and get patrons back into theaters. At the direction of Pacific's founder, Abe Baum, Frank supervises a talent search for the next "Shirley Temple," and presents Abe with three finalists. When Abe chooses the wrong girl, he sets the studio on the road to disaster Abe falls ill and Frank assumes the burdens of running the studio. He has to deal with the raging hormones of his teenage star, the artistic impulses of his directors, and the powerful Production Codes Office which regulates what the American public can see on the screens of neighborhood theaters. One calamity after another befalls Frank as he struggles to return the studio to profitability before the bank takes over UNFORESEEN COMPLICATIONS is the third book in the critically acclaimed Pacific Pictures series. Praise for THE MOVIE STAR AND ME, book one in the Pacific Pictures series: ...carefully styled, thoughtfully developed, and thoroughly enjoyable... riveting ... the right balance of suspense and romance... a very fun story worthy of a full recommendation. 5 out of 5 Stars. San Francisco Book Review Praise for TEMPORARY ALLIANCE, book two in the series: Old Hollywood glamour, intrigue and mystery still propel readers in this second Pacific Pictures book. Durham is a great storyteller with wonderful insight into the Golden Era of Hollywood. Literary Scene

Frank Russell is back at Pacific Pictures overseeing the studio

Frank Russell is a star-struck young Army veteran when he stumbles into a job at Pacific Pictures studios in Hollywood. Frank, just back from the war in the Pacific, immediately runs into the studio's biggest stars, including the beautiful, ambitious Vera Vance-and gets off on the wrong foot But when Frank demonstrates his leadership abilities to studio founder Abe Baum, relationships change quickly Movie magic, labor strikes, HUAC committee hearings and the business of show business are revealed as a colorful cast of characters fight for their self-interests--with surprising results.

Bob Foster is the pilot of a 10-man B-17 crew--until suddenly he isn't anymore In a public relations maneuver, Lt. Harmon Roberts III, son of a US Senator, takes over Foster's crew and Foster becomes his reluctant copilot. Roberts is just what the public affairs office needs: a handsome, articulate and well-connected pilot they can publicize to counter the heavy losses being suffered by the 8th Air Force. Now Foster's job is to help make a hero out of the man who's just stolen his command Before Roberts and Foster depart for their first mission together over enemy territory, the group adjutant issues one final order: "As big a PR weapon as Roberts can be for us, he can also be for the Germans. Make sure he doesn't fall into their hands." The flak and fighter-filled skies over Nazi-occupied Europe form the backdrop as two men battle for the respect of their crew and for survival against their common enemy "...incisive...nerve-wracking... the research fueled by Durham's passion shines through in the terrifying battle scenes that he brings alive for readers... An admirable addition to World War II fiction that highlights the contributions of heavy-bombing crews." Kirkus Reviews