In Alone, the second Valentino novel from Loren D. Estleman, our film detective finds himself up to his ears in renovating the old movie palace he's bought, with the help of his contractor, Kalishnikov (really!), and hindered by a supercilious government building inspector who could make life very difficult for him indeed. In the meantime, a very wealthy magnate has invited Valentino and his date, Harriet, to a party in honour of Greta Garbo's centenary, requesting everybody to dress in appropriate costume. Harriet turns out to be a dead ringer for Garbo, which causes the host - whose late wife was a great friend of the film goddess - to faint, which in turn allows him to talk privately to Valentino about the fact that his secretary is blackmailing him with a letter, purported to be from Garbo to his late wife and suggesting a very, er, intimate relationship between them. When said magnate subsequently shoots and kills said secretary, citing blackmail and physical threats as the cause, Valentino reluctantly finds himself teaming up with a fairly unsavory police lieutenant to get to the bottom of the matter.... I rarely read books by the same author back-to-back, as usually the enjoyment is diluted by repetition, but in this case, I found Valentino just as engaging and entertaining as I did in the first novel, Frames. Relationships deepen here, between Valentino and Harriet, and between Valentino and Professor Broadhead, and between the Prof and Fanta, a decades-younger woman who is studying law at UCLA. The resolution of the situation was not what I expected, and the tidbits about the screen icon, Garbo, both during her time in Hollywood and in her reclusive life afterwards, were fascinating to read. Again, Estleman concludes the novel with bibliographies, about Garbo in particular and silent films moving into talkies more generally, and provides a generous filmography of Garbo's films, with detailed synopses. How often can you say you've read a novel with real-world appendices like that? Recommended! ( )

"Alone" follows a UCLA film archivist and Greta Garbo buff who gets sucked into a murder mystery that involves some long lost secrets of the noted recluse. Having not seen a single Garbo film, I didn't feel lost or confused while reading, but I think it would have been more enjoyable to a bigger fan.

The mystery was a pretty good one, I thought, with some decent twists and turns, but I've never been one to really try to solve a mystery faster than the characters in a book. If you're a "I totally figured that out by page 10" kind of gumshoe, your mileage may vary. The side characters were all right, but I wouldn't have missed them if the story had left them out [aside from, like any book, needing to break up the action away from a single lead character]. I felt that the action dragged occasionally and the writing was a bit weak at times, but not enough to do more than throw up a quick distraction every now and then.

Overall, it was a pleasant read -- not the kind of mystery that sucks you in so that you can't put it down, but also not a struggle to get through. Probably worth a look for Garbo fans who would get something extra out of those references, but otherwise I wouldn't jump to recommend it over any other mysteries. ( )

I loved learning a little about Greta Garbo in a mystery. I have not read Estleman's first book, but will go back and read it. My husband is really the movie buff in our family, but I enjoyed the idea of preserving an old movie house. Liked the description of a professorial life too. A good read if your a mystery fan. ( )

Throughly enjoyed this book, Estleman invites us into the world of a passionate classic film geek. The plot was a little clunky, but it was a great beach booki. I'll be looking for more from Estleman. ( )

This is the second in the Valentino Series. This isn't THE Valentino (silent film star). This Valentino is an LA film detective in the guise of a UCLA film archivist. As an archivist, I was especially interested in the plot line about a love letter from Greta Garbo to his ex-wife and, while I enjoyed the first book in the series(Frames) and have always thought of Estleman as a good story teller, I had to force myself to finish this one. It was a disappointing read.