Author Ruth Francisco delivers an intelligent, multilayered, and rapidly paced historical crime novel of 1930’s Los Angeles in The Pigtailed Heart. Based on an actual criminal trial, this story swings from the courtroom, to seedy backroom gambling parlors populated by Hollywood socialites, to even more sordid political entanglements that reach far beyond the glitter and sunshine of southern California.
George Kendall Dazey is a well known doctor whose wife, the lovely yet troubled starlet Doris Dazey, dies under mysterious circumstances. The death is at first ruled a suicide, but later when Dazey remarries and seeks to claim full custody of his son from his powerful in-laws, a murder charge suddenly surfaces and Dazey’s life becomes the object of unbearable scrutiny.
Former detective Jack Clayton is retrieved from a quiet life of manual labor on his family’s orchards by renowned L.A. defense lawyer Jerry Geisler to investigate the charges. But what starts out to be a simple case of searching for evidence to uphold Dazey’s innocence becomes something far more. Every clue leads to more questions and incriminations, as the scope of those involved becomes broader and ever more scandalous. Slowly, as Dazey’s trial progresses, Jack begins to uncover a bully’s playground of organized crime, political corruption, espionage and eugenics.
The Pigtailed Heart is a gripping crime thriller that will keep readers teetering on the edges of their seats and reluctant to put the book down until the very last word. Impressively detailed and impeccably researched, this story will not only hurl you back to the darker side of Hollywood’s golden era, but leave your heart pounding and your palms sweaty.
Happy reading,
Gemi
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