Coco and Luce: The Last Train to Peking

About the Book

On sabbatical from college, best friends and inveterate slackers Colleen O’Connor and Lucy-Elizabeth Martin didn’t expect the letter that appeared without fanfare in their mailbox one drowsy, humid day.  Luce has inherited the estate of her unknown great-aunt Letitia, a minor film star of the 1920s.

Coco looks at Luce without speaking, until Luce says, “Well, I haven’t got anything better to do. Wanna go to California with me?”

“If you have to ask...”

Thus begins a great adventure.  In a sleepy town northwest of Los Angeles, they take possession of Letitia’s eight-room Art Deco mansion and embark on an odyssey of discovery.  There are hidden fountains, secret gardens, a classic car, and an attic full of vintage delights, not to mention a close-mouthed lawyer and an aged Irishman who seems to know more than he lets on.  There are also tantalizing clues to a long-lost film that persons unknown would do almost anything to possess.

With the help of their resourceful kitten Bast and a succession of smitten men, Coco and Luce set out to recover the missing film.  Along the way, they laugh and cry together, throw wild parties, explore the lives of Letitia and her own soul sister Bronwen, and celebrate just what it means to be women and friends.  Oh, and they solve the mystery too…

About the Author

Kelly loves reading, writing, history, Gore Vidal, the blues, the seventies, being veg, animals, computers, the Pacific Coast Highway, hot weather, Caparone wine, the Chicago White Sox, Hammer films, silent films, horrible action movies featuring aliens, and making lists (her boyfriend once called her brain a “hard drive” because of the seemingly endless amount of absolutely useless trivia stored therein). Kelly hates limits, narrow-mindedness, and being called “Kel” by anyone other than her mother and sister. As for Elizabeth, she loves sunshine, the full moon, dancing with Charles, her friends, walking Loki, gourmet veggie meals, reading to Savannah, silent movies, the Roaring Twenties, and writing letters. Her friends tell her she can always find the most bizarre thing on TV, no matter what time it is. Elizabeth will not answer to the name “Lizzie.”