New Collins Film Starring Paula Sands, ‘Death By Fruitcake’ Debuting Nov. 1-2 In Muscatine Theaters
“Death By Fruitcake,” the new film by Road to Perdition’s creator brings to life the mother-and-daughter detective duo from the award-winning Trash ‘n’ Treasures mystery series (Antiques Roadkill) by Barbara and Max Allan Collins, and the film will have its regional debut Nov. 1 and 2 at the Fridley Theaters in Muscatine.
Local theater diva Vivian Borne (Emmy-winning broadcaster Paula Sands) and reluctant assistant Brandy (Midwest pop star Alisabeth Von Presley, American Idol and American Song Contest) set out to bag the bad actor who brought the curtain down on the soap-opera queen guest star of The Fruitcake That Saved Christmas. Fans of Knives Out and Murder She Wrote will find Death by Fruitcake a deliciously deadly – and sometimes daffy – holiday delight.
Now in its nineteenth installment, the Antiques series by “Barbara Allan” has been hailed by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine as “The funniest cozy mystery novels going.” Set in picturesque Serenity, Iowa, the books deftly balance a puzzling whodunit with the travails of divorcee Brandy, her eccentric mother Vivian, and furry little shih tzu Sushi. Operating out of their Trash ‘n’ Treasures antiques shop, Brandy makes a reluctant Watson to her mother’s amateur sleuthing as the Bornes continually upstage local chief of police Tony Cassato, Brandy’s gruff love interest.
Director/writer Collins, named a Mystery Writers of America “Grand Master” in 2017, adapts in Death by Fruitcake a novella in the popular Antiques series. His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) became the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks. Max has written and directed seven features, including the Lifetime movie Mommy; and he scripted The Expert, an HBO World Premiere. His Quarry novels were adapted as a 2016 TV series by Cinemax for which Max wrote two scripts. Skydance, Lionsgate and CBS Films all currently have options on Collins properties. He and his wife Barbara, an award-winning short story writer, have collaborated on twenty-one novels.
