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.)