Showing results by author "Ava Barry" in All Categories

While in high school, Rainey spent a summer taking advantage of the wildfires near Los Angeles to break into the empty houses of the rich and famous with her best friends, Alice and Spencer, committing small acts of larceny. These acts of rebellion culminated in a big theft from a powerful, well-connected musician with underworld ties. Days later, Alice went missing. Now—nine years later—Rainey is a private detective chasing a missing person case. Chloe, a young vulnerable artist with a history of substance abuse, disappeared from her parents' house without a trace.

Four years ago, a young heiress survived an attack that claimed the lives of both her parents. The crime made headlines all over Los Angeles, both for the vicious nature of the killings and the seemingly random nature of the attack: nothing was stolen, and the van Aust family had no obvious enemies. Melia van Aust fled the city soon after the murders—which were never solved—but her brother Jasper has not been seen since. When Melia returns to LA and moves back into her family home, someone begins sending her increasingly violent messages that allude to her parents' murders.

Hollywood in the 1940s was an era of decadence, and director Theodore Langley was its king. Paired with Eleanor Hayes as his lead actress, Theo ruled the Golden Age of Hollywood. That ended when Eleanor’s mangled body was discovered in Theo’s rose garden and he was charged with her murder. The case was thrown out before it went to trial and Theo fled LA, leaving his crawling estate, Windhall, to fall into ruin. He hasn’t been seen since.