Maisy Malone Mystery

Maisy Malone and her three best friends have their Christmas day picnic at the beach spoiled by the discovery of a dead Japanese fisherman. They report the body to the Santa Monica police who notify the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department because the body was found outside the city's jurisdiction. The sheriff decides not to waste any time or money investigating the murder. Maisy is offended by their racist attitude, so she and Mabel Normand decide to use their Christmas vacation from making movies to investigate the crime on their own. The clues lead them to the back alleys of Rattlesnake Island, the old name for San Pedro's Terminal Island, where they discover a secret society of cutthroats and smugglers that has no ethnic limits. The two young women, with the assistance of L.A. Police Detective Sergeant Eddie Brown, snoop where they shouldn't and nearly lose their lives as they hunt down the killer of Japanese fisherman Masi Tanaka.

Bartender Charlie Quinn was found dead in the basement holding cell at the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Station. The police were the first suspects for his death. The LA County Coroner ruled Quinn died by accident. Declared to be intoxicated, Quinn allegedly stumbled and fell against the grating of the cell door and died from a brain hemorrhage. Maisy Malone wasn't buying the coroner's verdict, so she decided to prove the real cause for Quinn's death. With the help of comedy film star Mabel Normand and star vaudeville mime Charlie Chaplin, Maisy tracked down the truth and proved Quinn's death was actually Murder in the First Reel.

Spinster Nettie Soards goes missing. Ten days later her body is found in Dead Man’s Canyon, and the next day an unidentified man is found dead not far away. The coroner rules spinster died accidentally from falling off a cliff and dead man was shot through the heart. Reports in the newspapers disagree with the coroner’s verdict about the cause of death for Miss Soards and his dismissal of further investigation into the death of the identified man. Outraged by the coroner’s decision, Maisy Malone and her best friend Mabel Normand decide to look into the spinster’s death. They enlist new film star Roscoe Arbuckle to join them in their pursuit for justice for the two murder victims. Joining forces with Maisy are Detective Vince DeDonatis of the Venice Police, LA County Deputy Sheriff Jim Fox, Detective Sergeant Ed Browning of the LAPD, Ed’s wife Nealy, and their favorite taxi driver Johnny Fowler. Together they search for clues and evidence of murder. They begin by looking at reels of stock footage cameraman Walter Wright had shot in Venice on the same day Nettie Soards disappeared. Maisy and Mabel find their first clue proving.

Three guests at the plushest hotel in Los Angeles die in their beds under mysterious circumstances. The hotel manager breathes a sigh of relief because he believes in the old superstition that bad things happen in a cycle of three. LAPD Detective Ed Browning and his partner arenʼt buying the managerʼs tale. They start investigating and soon hear the story that the sister of the dead girl is seeing her sisterʼs ghost, talking to her, and learning her death was not by natural causes. More suspicious than ever, Browning and his partner then are suddenly told to back off by their captain. This makes them even more doubtful that two old people and one young girl died of natural causes in the same hotel. Since they canʼt officially investigate, they turn to their friend Maisy Malone for help. Maisy rounds up a cadre of fellow amateur sleuths and sends them out to do the leg work Browning and his partner canʼt do. Maisy and company hit the streets and highways to dig up evidence, and in four days they meet at the same hotel with their witnesses and suspects.