New film from Muscatine writers Max & Barbara Collins to premiere at The Palms 10 in November – Voice Of Muscatine

“Death By Fruitcake” will be screened in advance on November 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. (City of Muscatine)

An independent film penned by Muscatine residents will hit the local cinema later this fall.

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 Muscatine residents Barbara and Max Allan Collins.  

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 (based on their native Muscatine), 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 wife Barbara, an award-winning short story writer, have collaborated on twenty-one novels.

Two advanced screenings will be held November 1-2 at 7 p.m.

The current novel in the Trash ‘n’ Treasures series, Antiques Slay Belles, will be published November 5 by Severn House and is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other national booksellers.

Watch the official trailer for the film below, and purchase advanced screening tickets here.