Royal (in development)
A GRACE KELLY MURDER-MYSTERY
Inspired by a true story! First in a series. Gracie Kelly (as her family and friends call her) is the perfect Alfred Hitchcock leading actress. Smart, mysterious, elegant and sexually confident. Exactly how Gracie lives her life. Gracie liked to make self-deprecating jokes, ‘Hitch cast me because I had blonde hair! I don’t think if I was a brunette, my acting would get me the role!’ In this novel, Gracie solves a murder that is part of a grand conspiracy against her marriage to Prince Ranier! In 1956, Gracie Kelly (of the Philadelphia ‘Kelly’s’ ) reserved staterooms for about 60 of her family and friends for a ‘slow farewell to her movie star past’. An ocean crossing to Monaco before assuming her role of Princess. Instead, she finds herself in the middle of a very ‘Hitchcock’ thriller.
“Gracie stands awkwardly with her former childhood friend, Danny in an ebony shadow on the stern. The night sky washed with moon bright heavy clouds like a black patchwork quilt. Lights glow from a hundred ship cabins. Fire from the smokestacks. Gracie should allow a proper gap between them. She can’t help herself. She steps close enough to slide her hand down his chest. It has been a long time since Gracie felt clumsy and self-conscious around a man. Always, always, it’s the other way round. Gracie wants to cry. She wants to tell Danny she’s sorry. But she can’t kiss him. And then she does. Closes her eyes and sets her hand on his cheek. Danny keeps his arms at his side. Afraid. This is a mistake. Just as Gracie opens her eyes again, something sweeps past them. Falling out of the night. Maybe a seabird? She turns and realizes it’s a figure. A man. Danny doesn’t see it. Gracie runs to the rail as the man hit the water. The splash is fleeting and muffled. Not a trace.
Gracie suddenly feels compelled to look up. For one second, she sees a face looking down at her. A flash of pale white, just for a moment, and then it disappears. She looks at Danny, ‘Did you see him!?’
Danny is confused, ‘See what?’
It’s not hard for ‘Philly to come out’ in the Kelly family. Her father is the ‘Joe Kennedy of Philadelphia and Gracie knows what he’d say right now.’
‘Jesus-fucking-Christ.’