West Orange Mystery Novels Find Their Way East—All the Way to China

WEST ORANGE, N.J. - Aug. 9, 2016 - PRLog -- The mystery novels of author John Dandola have established a cult following both here in the States and in Europe. Now they will be featured at the 23rd Beijing International Book Fair. All five of the published novels will be offered to Asian publishers along with the next four which are currently pending publication later this year and next.

Set during the 1940's, the books combine actual Golden Age Hollywood personalities with a protagonist whose home base is West Orange, New Jersey. Dandola's family has lived in West Orange for more than 250 years and his grandfather is the inspiration for his lead character.

The novels began by using the Edison, the Man World Premiere as the backdrop for a murder mystery. That film, starring Spencer Tracy, actually had its first showing in West Orange during May of 1940 because Edison's home and laboratory are located there. Spencer Tracy, himself, participated in the premiere's social events which lasted for several days. Besides offering noir-type mystery and dialogue, Dandola's stories have also given readers a vivid portrait of American small town life during that era. The plots have since expanded to take in travels to the Caribbean and Mexico while also entailing the production of Hollywood B movies. Dandola, a screenwriter and filmmaker in his own right, is also an expert on Hollywood's Studio System. He fills his stories with details of how movies were once made and adds enough backstage history to more than satisfy any viewer of Turner Classic Movies.

The next novel to be published will be Dead in Left Field, a synopsis of which, along with the other upcoming novels can be found at
http://www.JohnDandola.com/UpcomingMysteryNovels_2016.html

The 23rd Beijing International Book Fair runs from August 24 – 28, 2016 in Beijing, China.