DIE A LITTLE

Ellen Archer takes Meghan Abbott's stylish exercise in noir and delivers a dynamite performance. In 1950s Los Angeles, mousy schoolteacher Lora King becomes alarmed when her brother falls for a glamorous, possibly dangerous, woman. Her suspicions are heightened when a mutual friend is murdered. Archer handles Lora's first-person narrative smoothly. As Lora journeys through the seedy side of the movie industry, uncovering drugs, murder, and her sister-in law's disturbing secrets, Archer doesn't strike a false note. Abbott's well-drawn period piece offers an unusual heroine. Lora King makes an appealing addition to the noir canon, thanks to Ellen Archer's authentic portrait of a self-deprecating innocent teetering on the edge of self-awareness. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]