In Karen Bergreen's hilarious "who-dun-it", FOLLOWING POLLY, she tells the story of the hapless Alice and her adventures dodging the police and doing her best to find out who really killed the golden actress with the tarnished secrets. Part cozy mystery, part romance, and all parts outrageously funny, this novel is one of the most unique tales I've run across this year.

The day Alice Teakle loses her job as an assistant casting director, life seems a little shaky. After all, the sudden departure from her floundering career was abrupt and a bit hard on her self-confidence. The combination of time on her hands, nothing better to do, and a chance encounter with her old schoolmate, result in Alice spending her time following Polly Linley Dawson around New York City. In retrospect, that probably wasn't Alice's best idea. Especially when Alice happens to stumble across Polly's dead body, and suddenly becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Looking back, perhaps she should have taken up knitting, or something.

Alice and Polly had been schoolmates at Harvard, but that's not to say they were friends. Polly breathed the rarefied air of the popular, while Alice just trudged along doing the best she could (and lusting after an upperclassman she dubbed "Charlie"). After graduation, Polly went on to become a twinkling star -- the owner of a fabulous lingerie line, and married to a top movie director. Alice followed Polly's exploits as she herself worked a series of iffy jobs, including a stint at the same law firm as her beloved Charlie. She had always envied Polly. But, after shadowing Polly for weeks as the golden girl went about her mysterious daily errands, finding Polly lying in a pool of blood suddenly puts an end to Alice's obsession and forces her underground to avoid being imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. She finds herself contacting her old crush, Charlie, who is now a lawyer, and enlisting his help in clearing her name, but it might include doing a favor or two for him in return. See, Charlie has an obsession of his own-- clearing his father's name of false charges. Working together, helping each other, the two find themselves slowly but surely falling into something that looks a little bit like love.

"Following Polly" is one madcap adventure after another, with scenes that will remind the reader of the escapades of "I Love Lucy" one minute, and the cloak and dagger intrigue of "Jessica Fletcher" the next. A stand up comedian and former lawyer, author Karen Bergreen brings her bright and sometimes biting humor to the pages of this book, making for a completely enjoyable reading experience.