Review: Pleasant Light Fantasy Thriller
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 4, 2013
Happily for the reading of this book, I know next to nothing about Marilyn Monroe beyond the roles she played in her short Hollywood career, and nothing at all about Khrushchev, aside from the political. Since I am a fan of the late lamented Stuart Kaminsky's, Hollywood detective series, I can accept the Collins' version of the two of them and their 'let's pretend' adventures in Los Angeles and at Disneyland. One of the nice things about fiction is that it is .....fictional. I just would warn younger, no, in fact, all readers, not to think of K. as a big teddy bear with a heart of Gold. He did not survive the Stalinist period of Soviet history or get to be Mr. Top Bear in that era  without..........Never Mind. The fact is that this is a very light, often humorous, story, along the lines of Grant and Hepburn. A mystery it is not. A thriller it is but never taking that aspect very seriously. Naturally, we know even before turning on our Kindles (or opening to the first page of an old fashioned book), that neither MM nor K is going to be killed. Given that ineluctable fact, the authors do a good job of entertaining us with a tale we know has a happy ending.I don't think this book does any more than it intended, allow Mr. Collins to get away from some of the heavier, darker, tougher writing he does. I enjoyed the book and think most cozy and general readers, mystery fans or not, will also get a bit of a kick out of it. Oh, I should add, as with the Elkins' golf mysteries, it is nice to have the Mrs. in on the game.