Today we welcome Janet Elizabeth Lynn to Mystery Mondays. Will Zeilinger his going to sneak in here too! I think this a a first for Mystery Mondays – a couple co-authoring novels. They are here with a new release and an essay about research.

Researching Hollywood 1950s

The Feminine and the Dignified by Janet Elizabeth Lynn

My husband, Will Zeilinger, and I write the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series set in 1955 in Hollywood.  Private Investigator, Skylar Drake, hunts down murders in the Los Angeles area while working as a stuntman for the movie studios. Though the stories are hard-boiled, Drake also lives in the era which required us to research the life and times of Los Angeles mid 1950s.

While researching this period we had to carefully scrutinize the clothes, cars, politics, music, movies and (of all things) weather for each book. The fun part of the research are the clothes. Dressing our Femme Fatales for daytime and evening, as well as the men has been a real kick.

We discovered the hardships of returning War II and Korean War veterans beginning careers and marrying. Women were expected to give up their wartime careers to become homemakers and mothers. Because of this, there was a move toward a more feminine look for women and dignified look for men. There was also a desire to indulge in luxury, after the years of wartime deprivation and rationing.

Desert Ice, released this January, is the third in the series. And, yes we are still married!

 

WHO ARE Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger

Published authors Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger had been writing individually until they got together and wrote the SKYLAR DRAKE MURDER MYSTERY Series.

These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955.  Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus two short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

 

 

DESERT ICE

In 1955, a missing Marine and stolen diamonds lead Private Eye Skylar Drake to Sin City, where the women are beautiful and almost everything is legal—except murder.

The FBI and a Las Vegas crime boss force him to choose between the right and wrong side of the law. All the while, government secrets, sordid lies and trickery block his efforts to solve the case.

Common sense tells him to go back to L.A. but is gut tells him to find his fellow Marine.

 

 

Find Out More:

Janet Elizabeth Lynn http://www.janetlynnauthor.com/

Will Zeilinger http://www.willzeilingerauthor.com/

Desert Ice on Amazon.