Starred review from March 19, 2018
Set in Hollywood in 1922, this outstanding series launch from O’Donovan (Dublin Dead) puts a fictional spin on the real-life murder of film director William Desmond Taylor. Querulous movie producer Mack Sennett (of Keystone Cops fame) hires transplanted Irishman Tom Collins, a former New York City cop, to prove that Mabel Normand, Mack’s star and former paramour, is innocent of shooting Taylor. But Mack is not the only one putting pressure on Tom; the death of a mid-level dope dealer brings him to the attention of a burgeoning gangster. Tom visits glamorous nightclubs and opulent restaurants, as well as dives and dope dens—all depicted with an acute eye for detail—along the way to the breathtaking and satisfying conclusion. O’Donovan skillfully portrays an evolving city that is shaped and indeed ruled by the movie industry. The characters, too, are drawn with precision, be they society dames, hop heads, movie stars, or studio executives. Readers will hope this marks the start of a long-running series. Agent: Broo Doherty, David Headley Literary Agency (U.K.).
April 15, 2018
Tensions are high and rumors are a dime a dozen when Tom Collins is called in to investigate the murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. It's 1922, and the rich and powerful are still abuzz about the Fatty Arbuckle trials, but now the newspapers smell a fresh scandal in the making. Collins, a cop-turned-PI, works for the studios and is tasked with clearing the name of Taylor's fianc�e, film star Mabel Normand. Things go from bad to worse as old enemies from Collins's past reemerge and he must deal with misdirection and lies. His hands are full as he tries to untangle this deathly mess. VERDICT Based on the real-life (and still unsolved) 1922 murder of director William Desmond Taylor, O'Donovan's (Dublin Dead) historical series launch is sprinkled with cameos by iconic stars such as Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford, and filled with deliciously evil villains and glamorous backdrops. A winner with fans of Old Hollywood.--Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 15, 2018
Hollywood, 1922. A film director is dead, and investigator Tom Collins is hired by the studio chief, Mack Sennett, to find out whodunit. Sennett's concern is whether his leading lady, Mabel Normand, had something to do with it. Film buffs will soon see that the novel, which we can only hope is the first in a series, is based on a real murder mystery. Director William Desmond Taylor really was killed in 1922, and Normand was treated as a suspect. Sennett, producer of the Keystone Cops comedies, was concerned he would lose not only his star, but also possibly his studio itself, if Normand were to be implicated in a crime. Fast paced and with a good sense of time and place (not to mention seamless integration of fictional and factual elements), the novel represents a change of pace for O'Donovan, whose previous work (Dublin Dead, 2012) has been grittier and set in the present. For fans of mysteries set in Hollywood's early days, like Mary Miley's Silent Murders (2014) and Edward Wright's While I Disappear (2004), this one's a sure thing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
April 27, 2020
In O’Donovan’s engrossing sequel to 2018’s The Long Silence, likewise set in 1922 Hollywood, movie director Rex Ingram needs the help of PI Tom Collins, a former L.A. police officer. The female lead of his next picture, “sultry screen vamp” Barbara La Marr, is being threatened by a former lover’s lawyer. If she doesn’t pay up, embarrassing letters and a long list of her paramours will be revealed to the newspapers. Ingram asks Tom to run interference between the lawyer and La Marr. La Marr has her own request for Tom. She wants him to find out what’s troubling her handsome costar, Ramon Samaniegos (the future Ramon Navarro). Human remains found in the hills on the city’s outskirts raise the ante. The only clue to the ravaged cadaver’s identity is a note tucked in its jacket pocket with the name and badge number of Tom’s police pal, Det. Thad Sullivan. O’Donovan makes fine use of period details, and peoples the cast with fascinating real-life characters. This action-packed, tightly plotted mystery should win the author new fans. Agent: Broo Doherty, David Headley Literary Agency (U.K.).
March 15, 2020
As Will H. Hays, the movie industry's first censor, descends on 1922 Hollywood, Tom Collins, private eye to the stars, lands a second case in the scandal-ridden town. With Hays newly arrived and sniffing around for blood, hot Metro director Rex Ingram, about to head east for the New York premiere of The Prisoner of Zenda, wants to do everything he can to make sure that Barbara La Marr, the star of his latest movie, Black Orchids, is squeaky clean. The trouble is that she isn't. Ben Deeley, an actor who claims to be married to the bombshell actress, is suing her for divorce, and when she replies that their marriage was never legal because she hadn't divorced his predecessor, his attorney offers to add bigamy to the suit. The timing couldn't be worse, because inside La Marr's glamorous costumes is a baby bump that Phil Olsen, of the Los Angeles Herald, or somebody else outside the studio is bound to notice any day now. Nor is La Marr the only performer subject to extortion. Ramon Samaniegos, a Metro contract player whose turn in The Prisoner of Zenda seems likely to launch him into stardom, is being blackmailed over the disappearance of the waiter Gianni, who was much more than a friend to the rising star. Meanwhile, an unidentified corpse lies cooling in the morgue after baking for weeks or months in the California sun. Could it be Gianni's? Silent-film buffs won't care that there's not much doom and more loose ends than a shoelace factory.
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May 1, 2020
Movie czar William H. Hays has come to 1920s Hollywood on a mission to clean up the filth and craziness found in motion pictures. Rumors are flying that he is compiling a "doom list" of undesirable people with the intent of barring them from further moviemaking. His list is putting Hollywood on edge, including hot young director Rex Ingram, who hires cop-turned-investigator Tom Collins to help keep himself and his actors in the clear. Collins soon gets embroiled in several scandals, which variously include a pregnant actress, an upcoming actor struggling to keep his sexual proclivities hidden, and a nosy reporter bent on getting the latest scoop. And then a murder victim is found in the desert just south of the city, which might be connected to the movie Ingram and his troupe are making. O'Donovan does a marvelous job with setting and scandal, skillfully evoking the drama of being on an old Hollywood movie set. VERDICT Fans of 1920s glamour and scandal will enjoy this follow-up to The Long Silence. This fun mystery is a strong entry in the series.--Bill Anderson, Scott Cty. P.L., Scottsburg, IN
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.