Black Is the Fashion for Dying
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| Author | Jonathan Latimer |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1959 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 240 |
| Preceded by | Sinners and Shrouds |
Black Is the Fashion for Dying is a mystery novel by Jonathan Latimer and first published by Random House in 1959. Latimer's last novel, it drew on the author's experiences as a contract screenwriter in Hollywood.[1]
The novel was published in England by Methuen as The Mink Lined Coffin in 1960.
While working on an eleventh-hour rewrite on the script for a problem-plagued film, Tiger in the Night, screenwriter Robert Blake is interrupted by the appearance of a disoriented young blond woman. Meanwhile, the film's star, Caresse Garnet, may be allowing her diva-like behavior to anger one too many people.[2]
Black Is the Fashion for Dying is told through limited third-person point-of-view narration, with each chapter focused on the experience of a different character. The title originates from a line of dialog that Richard Blake devises when he is completing the re-write on Tiger in the Night.