Death by Hollywood — Steven Bochco

From the acclaimed co-creator of Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, Death by Hollywood is a suspenseful and darkly comic crime novel about a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who tries to turn a brutal murder into his next movie payday.

One day, while spying on his Hollywood Hills neighbors through his $4,000 Bushnell XR90 electronic telescope, Bobby Newman sees a beautiful woman making love to a handsome Latin actor named Ramon. When their pillow talk takes a turn for the ugly, Bobby watches in horror as the woman bludgeons her lover to death with his own acting trophy. Deciding to write about it instead of reporting it to the cops, Bobby insinuates himself into Detective Dennis Farentino's murder investigation, forging an unusual friendship with the cop, and it turns out to be more complex than either of them had bargained for. Before long, Bobby has dragged the detective, his estranged wife, his lover, and his agent into a Hollywood fun house hall of mirrors, where only the most manipulative player will survive... .