In the first of a wildly entertaining mystery series set amid the bright lights, big egos, and Botoxed brows of Hollywood, Cheryl Crane—daughter of legendary movie star Lana Turner—introduces a smart, hilarious, and utterly loveable heroine in realtor-turned-amateur sleuth, Nikki Harper.

For Nikki Harper, realtor to the stars and daughter of 1950s screen goddess Victoria Bordeaux, Hollywood is home. A completely dysfunctional home populated by a cast of crazies, true, but home nonetheless. While Nikki's no stranger to scandal, she's shocked to receive a hysterical phone call from her business partner, Jessica Martin, saying that TV has-been Rex March has been found dead in Jessica's bed.

More shocking than Rex's death is the fact that, as far as anyone knew, Rex was already dead. Six months ago, the star of the seventies sitcom Shipwrecked Vacation was supposedly killed when his plane crashed in the Mojave Desert. Nikki and Jessica recently sold his mansion on behalf of his widow, Edith. It's obvious to Nikki that Jessica is being framed, but by whom? And why? And how on earth can Rex be dead a second time?

In search of answers, Nikki turns to the one person she can always count on. From her pink boudoir in her Beverly Hills mansion, the ever-glamorous Victoria suggests Nikki focus her sleuthing on Rex's not-so-grieving widow. And there's a veritable casting couch full of other candidates, including Edith's boy-toy lover, Rex's scheming lawyer (like there's any other kind), and the diner waitress with whom Rex was having one of his numerous affairs. But with the killer readying for a repeat performance, Nikki will have to act fast—before her own screen fades to black. . .

"Cheryl Crane has written a superb mystery: rich in milieu, deep in plot twists, constant in the exercise of suspense and surprise. This book is a veritable primer on why people read and love crime fiction." —James Ellroy

"In The Bad Die Twice Cheryl Crane has written what should have been the final role of her mother Lana Turner's career. Bravo! I sure hope they make a movie out of this very entertaining book." —John Waters

Cheryl Crane is the daughter of Hollywood legend Lana Turner and actor-restaurateur Josef Stephen Crane. Today, Cheryl works in real estate in Palm Springs, California. Her autobiography, Detour: A Hollywood Story, was a New York Times bestseller. In 2008 she published the ultimate illustrated biography of her mother, Lana: The Memories, the Myths, the Movies. She's currently working on the next Nikki Harper mystery.