MYSTERY OF THE MATINEE MURDERS [Hollywood Cowboy Detectives] by Darryle Purcell

"A good time. Recommend it to all who like old western movies and serials too." —The Adventure Continues Blog

In this homage to the B-movie westerns and movie serials of yore, Hollywood Cowboy Detectives Curly Woods, Hoot Gibson and Ken Maynard join forces with action star "Crash" Corrigan and radio's Mercury Theatre stars Orson Welles and Ray Collins. Together they pool their unique talents to entertain children, battle Nazi zombies, and discover the identity of a diabolical assassin, while fighting their mutual desire to strangle each other—on a Hollywood junket in a celebrity and danger filled bus from southern California to the Golden Gate. Their fellow passengers include a roster of other actors and actresses, a radio announcer, a mute sound-effects specialist, a photographer, G-men, plus a talentless reporter and a psychic (who are killed by the bites of a king cobra).

The action begins when fascist saboteurs place bounties on the heads of Curly, Hoot and Ken. From there the story hurtles north through California's Central Valley. And in a story within the novel, the author tips his hat to one of the great programs, The Shadow, which Welles starred in during the Golden Age of radio.

Author Darryle Purcell illustrates Mystery of the Matinee Murders in the style of the classic pulp adventures of the 1930s.