Kelli Stanley's "City of Sharks," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: City of Sharks: A Miranda Corbie Mystery by Kelli Stanley.

The entry begins:

I had one actress in mind when Miranda Corbie introduced herself to me in City of Dragons.

Rita Hayworth.

Miranda looks like a young Rita, can turn on the kilowattage like a young Rita (think Gilda), and, underneath her hardboiled defenses, is an exquisitely sensitive soul. Her armor is as tough as she is vulnerable … indeed, that’s why the armor exists.

Rita could express that kind of vulnerability, even in more traditional (i.e. misogynistic) femme fatale roles (think Lady from Shanghai) … and, for my money, her performance as Gilda—the play of conflicting, competing emotions that played across her face in so many scenes—was one of the best in the entire noir oeuvre. Rita combined intelligence, strength, wit, sexual allure, romanticism, beauty and vulnerability in a way few actresses ever have.

But now we’re in the fourth book of the series—City of Sharks. Actresses that could’ve played the role several years ago—Charlize Theron, for example—have aged out of it. Could a contemporary younger actress capture Miranda? And capture her in a way that...[read on]

Learn more about the novel and author at Kelli Stanley's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kelli Stanley & Bertie.

The Page 69 Test: City of Dragons.

The Page 69 Test: City of Secrets.

The Page 69 Test: City of Ghosts.

My Book, The Movie: City of Ghosts.

The Page 69 Test: City of Sharks.

My Book, The Movie: City of Sharks.

--Marshal Zeringue