THE RONALD REAGAN MURDER CASE is a new comedy-mystery novel by David Ossman, who is best-known as a founding member of the legendary Firesign Theatre comedy recording quartet.  The book is set in Malibu, Mulholland and Musso's and in CBS Radio's Studio A during the Golden Age, and introduces George Tirebiter, then a 25-year-old comedy star, in his first "celebrity detective" role.

In 1945, Tirebiter was riding high on CBS network radio. He and his wife, one-time glamorous showgirl Lillie Lamont, were starring in the popular Friday night variety program, "Hollywood Madhouse." At the same time, George's career at Paranoid Pictures had only progressed as far as directing another B programmer, "First WAC In Tokyo."

Two murder mysteries engage George during that fateful fortnight in January 1945. In one, he discovers that the apparent murder of Ronald Reagan's movie double could have been an early CIA double-cross, fabricated by a cross-dressing Bill "Wild Bull" Casey. Could our beloved ex-President actually have been his own stand-in?

Tirebiter also follows a long covered-up killer's trail back to 1920 and solves the scandalous death of an over-sexed movie director. A popular Southern California nudist resort and an infamous blue movie figure in the solution to this Silent Screen story, while Radio and B-Movies provide glamorous stars, back-lot chills, L.A. in the rain, and two live radio broadcasts. Lt. "Dutch" Reagan appears in a prime-time tribute to Air Force Bombers, only to be interrupted by gun fire – and not from the sound-effects man.

The book is illustrated with archival photos of the major characters and contains a Tirebiter filmography and David Ossman's memoir of his long friendship with Tirebiter, one of his personal Radio Heros. (Tirebiter, through Ossman, inspired a major character, "Porgie," in The Firesign Theatre's 1970 hit, "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers.")

SPECIAL TREAT! For readers who can't get enough of George, the opening chapters of Tirebiter's next mystery, "The Flying Saucer Murder Case," are included as a preview of his future adventures.

(Tirebiter appeared on a 5-CD set - sadly, out of print - called "The George Tirebiter Story". Originally released on the Lodestone label, it contains readings of "Hollywood Madhouse" and "The Ronald Reagan Murder Case" among a select historical collection of broadcast performances. You may be able to find this on eBay if you're lucky.)