1922 Will H Hays, 'movie czar' in on his way to Hollywood, to clean it up of its undesirables. Which brings a problem to actress Barbara La Marr (pregnant and not currently married), and upcoming actor Ramon Samaniegos, because of his close friendship with a Gianni.
When a body is discovered in the desert Ramon is convinced that it is Gianni, who disappeared some weeks ago. This unnamed body is also of concern to Detective Thad Sullivan and p.i. Tom Collins, as they might know who it is, and be implicated in the death. Collins is employed by La Marr and Ramon to help with their problems, and hopefully for them not to be exposed so that their careers are ruined by ending up on Hays' 'Doom List'.
An enjoyable well-written historical mystery covering sleaze, corruption and sexual scandals, at city hall, the police or at the film industry.
A NetGalley Book ( )

I really enjoyed this second trip into old Hollywood - silents films are still the rage, talkies are barely on the scene, actors and actresses were glamourous, scandalous, mysterious and sometimes murderous. The weaving of some of these famous Hollywood folk into the story gives it a bit more of an edge, and O'Donovan again uses events from this time as a backdrop.

Whilst it is not necessary to have read the first in this series, I would recommend that you do as there are references to previous events in this new outing - events which have never quite been closed.

In Tom Collins, ex-cop, ex-studio fixer, now private inquiry agent, O'Donovan gives us a character straight from the pages of the classic noir playbook - right up their with Spade, Hammer or Marlowe. I enjoyed the style of storytelling, which provided enough plot twists and turns and diversions to keep the reader firmly planted on the edge of their seat. You get a true sense of what it was like back in the early days of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Again, looking forward to the next instalment.

fuller review here @ Melisende's Library ( )