Kellye Garrett Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective By Day Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Kellye Garrett is an American author of suspense mysteries who debuted her writing career with the novel “Hollywood Homicide” in 2017. The novel went on to receive critical acclaim, starred reviews from the likes of Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, and numerous award nominations. She won the Best Debut Mystery at the 2018 Lefty Awards and was nominated for a Barry and Agatha Award in the same year. Kellye loves to refer to herself as a recovering TV writer turned author, having spent the best part of eight years as a script writer for “Cold Case” in Hollywood. Many people were always surprised to learn that she was one of the writers of the CBS drama, a job that involved brainstorming how to kill. Before becoming a script writer she had worked at a magazine as editor having graduated from Florida A&M with a degree in magazine writing, and later from the USC Film School with an MFA in screenwriting. In addition to her writing endeavors she also serves as the Publicity Liaison for the Sisters in Crime Board of Directors. She lives in New Jersey from where she commutes every day to Manhattan, where she works for one of the major media companies.

Kellye Garrett’s novels in the Detective By Day Mysteries are about a totally broke and semi famous black actress that decides to take up the role of Homicide Detective – one of the deadliest in her life. While people always thought it weird that she would live for writing scripts about murder every week, Garrett believes that Hollywood is a place where laughter is more prevalent than tears. She had always loved mystery and thought that combining the absurdity of Hollywood with mystery could make for a great novel series, hence the “Detective by Day Mysteries”. While she had always wanted to become an author since she was five, it was not until a psychic told her that she needed to quit her job and go teach TV writing that she believed her dream could come true. A week later she was hired by Gotham, who wanted a TV Writing Teacher. In the meantime, she also found a job with “Sharp Electronics” where she worked full time as a marketing writer. Her job with Gotham soon led to her job with “Cold Case”, where she had to write about grisly and disturbing murders. Kellye loved the job but soon found out that there is no career security in the rough and tumble of Hollywood, where shows could be cancelled on a whim, leaving one in a quandary.

It was while she was living in limbo in Los Angeles that she saw a small advertisement asking for an amateur sleuth interested in making some money by solving a local crime. While Garrett thought it an absurd way to earn a living, it gave birth to an idea for “Hollywood Homicide” and her lead protagonist Dayna Anderson. Just like Kellye Garrett, Anderson is an out of work actress who seems some ad and decides to become a homicide detective. However, the novels are not the grisly Cold Case stories in novel form. Garrett has always loved lightweight mysteries despite her work with Cold Case. Her novels are not about someone being tortured and cut into tiny little pieces, but rather stories that balance the dark with a chuckle.

Dayna Anderson the lead of the “Detective by Day Mysteries” had always wanted fame which she got for a while. Her looks had got her a job as the face of the highly successful “Chubby Chicken Commercials” that ran for the best part of two years. Since the job ended, she retired from acting and now gets all manner of temp jobs to support herself. It is a hard life as Anderson often lacks the money to buy necessities like gas for her car or pay for her phone. To save on costs, she has moved in with a friend who has a combination shoe closet/bedroom big enough for her. It is from here that she finally finds the interesting job working as an amateur homicide detective. The series of novels have twisty plots akin to the 110 Freeway, stiletto sharp humor, a complex heroine, and heart as big as the city of angels. Garrett makes one laugh, then out of nowhere hits you in the gut like no author can. The lead takes the reader on a wild ride of the backstreets and underworld of LA full of celebrities, Twitter feeds, high fashion and murder. These are fast paced and fun novels packed with suspense and action, and the sharp dialogue and fresh voice that makes these novels a delight from the first page to the last.

In “Hollywood Homicide” the first novel of the series, Dayna Anderson is on the quest for solving a murder. She has taken the job to keep herself afloat and help her broke parents keep up with their mortgage payments. She has been witness to a hit-and-run that turned deadly and believes that she is best placed to act as the homicide detective for the fifteen thousand reward on offer. It is one of the most dangerous and crazy things she ever did but she needs the money. But what she thought would be nothing more than trying to remember the plates and color of a speeding car soon becomes a full blow investigation. Digging deeper into the life of the victim, she finds herself interested in more than just solving the case and collecting the reward. It is not long before she connects the killing to a mysterious Hollywood crime spree that involves movie premiers, celebrity homes and paparazzi hot spots. It is all interesting and exciting until she becomes the target of a killer.

“Hollywood Ending” the second novel of the series opens to the awards season in full swing in Tinsel town. Invites to the biggest awards, scoring free swag, and dressing up are the order of the day for pretty much anyone in Hollywood. However, things become interesting when Lyla Davis the publicist for the Silver Sphere Awards is murdered while withdrawing cash from an ATM. The murder sours the mood in LA until retired actress turned amateur sleuth Dayna Anderson resolves the mystery of the murder almost immediately. But what everyone thought was an open-and-shut case soon becomes something nobody could ever have expected. The murder was not a botched robbery but rather an elaborate hit organized by an unknown person. Throwing everything she has into the case, Dayna rubs shoulders with the who’s who of Hollywood and gossip bloggers in a quest to bring justice to the killers of Lyla Davis. But will her quest lead to a Hollywood Ending for Dayna?

2 Responses to “Kellye Garrett”

1. Barbara Catt: 2 years ago

   Loved S W Kane’s 1st book

   Reply
2. Barbara Catt: 2 years ago

   Can’t wait for next S W Kane book!

   Reply