Diana Poole

Diana Poole's last movie was a flop, but she earned enough money to fix up her Malibu house. One afternoon standing outside it, she sees a woman across the highway waving at her. Diana doesn't recognize her. Still waving, the woman walks into the oncoming cars and is killed instantly. Why would anyone do that? The next night, while still horrified by the accident, Diana is held at gunpoint by a man demanding the dead woman's scorpion. What kind of scorpion? A live one? A brooch? A pendant? Diana searches the accident scene and finds a diamond-encrusted object in the shape of a scorpion. Breathless, she remembers her movie star mother showing it to her the last time she saw her alive. Did the woman who was waving at her want her to see it? Was the woman's death really an accident? Why did the gunman want the scorpion? Did her mother really die of natural causes? Could it have been murder? With the diamond-encrusted object as her only clue, Diana goes on a heart-pounding journey determined to find answers. But asking a lot of questions can upset people. Especially the unpredictable killer who is stalking her.

A forty-year-old actress tries to make a comebackbut death keeps getting in the way Diana Poole was the last of the starlets. A vibrant blonde with a quick wit and sharp intelligence, she was on her way to the top when Colin Hudson changed her mind about being famous. He was the finest screenwriter in Hollywood, and loved her well enough that she lost the acting bug forever. When he dies, he leaves Diana lonely, broke, and verging on middle agea combination that's difficult anywhere, but toxic in Hollywood.   Thankfully, Diana still knows how to play the game. Working her old contacts and hustling for a job, she contends with crazy young ingenues, lecherous studio heads, and the cutthroat attention of her fellow fading beauties. But there's an added twist: On and off the set, she can't help stumbling over dead bodies. Tragedy follows Diana Poole, and in Hollywood, tragedy comes cheap.