During the 1990’s, I read several cozy mysteries by the female writer K. K. Beck. I particularly liked her novels set in the 20’s with alliterative titles (e.g. “Death in a Deckchair”; “Peril under the Palms”). I hadn’t seen anything by her at the library in a long while and was pleased to come across this novel in a library in a nearby town (yes, I frequent several different libraries!).

“The Revenge of Kali-Ra” is a bit of a parody of pulp fiction. A beautiful but somewhat witless Hollywood actress, Nadia Wentworth, has discovered the Kali-Ra novels by Valerian Ricardo from the 1920’s. She wants to turn them into a movie with herself as the star. A copyright battle ensues, Ricardo’s wacky widow gets into the middle of things, his estranged great nephew becomes involved, and a strange and ethereal young woman links herself to this unlikely group. Antics ensue at Nadia’s Hollywood manor, where a few more memorable characters are included (including a binge-drinking British writer and a wanna-be mafioso).
All ends happily in this light and enjoyable read

While I enjoyed this quick read, I do enjoy some of K. K. Beck’s other cozy mysteries (set in the 1920’s) more.

This one was published in 1999. I’ll continue to look for more by her!