Samantha Duchet is a smart young girl, average in every way, and in desperate need of an escape from her small town and the constant tyrannical abuses of her father. From preteen to young adult, Sam is habitually exposed to almost constant abuse from Richard Duchet, until one day she splits. She can choose to properly heal with years of psychotherapy and prescription drugs, or take the road less traveled, but often dreamt of. The SPLIT of Samantha Duchet is both evil and heroic. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

The Edgar Award–winning author of the Peter Duluth series delivers a fun, fast-paced murder mystery set in the heyday of Hollywood. Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. Anthony Boucher wrote: “Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie.” Young Nickie Rood is in Paris working on a novel, enjoying the company of a lovely local, and generally lazing about when he learns of the death of Hollywood icon Norma Delaney. His eccentric mother, Anny, demands that he return home at this trying time. After all, Norma was one of Anny’s best friends. They had come up together, working their way to movie stardom. But they were also both facing the fact that stars fade. And with Norma’s unfortunate—and quite suspicious—demise, a plum film role is now Anny’s for the taking. Which is why she ends up cast as suspect number one in her friend’s murder. With Anny’s life and legacy on the line, Nickie must snoop his way through the highest of high society and the grimiest gutters in Tinseltown if he’s going to keep his mother from facing her final act.

Pure love, not recognized as such by most children, inexplicably grows as they mature and makes them strong fighters against traditions, bigotry, tyranny, and parents' wishes. Mankind's desires to live closer to Mother Nature than within the confines of a human society determined to continue to live in the glory of self-esteem and false pride are ultimately achieved by the principal people in this novel. Great lessons to live by are taught by an old man living on a farm. A child, in need of comfort, finds companionship and peace in the world of his imagination where everything becomes real. Strong belief in God vanishes when unexpected events change many lives. Spoiled youth, like bull with lustful desires, inject poison in a town of peace loving people. Ultimately, the determination to really live one's faith restores peace and happiness in the hearts of people in love.