Why on earth would Loren D. Estleman want to start a brand-new series? It’s not like this prolific author doesn’t have enough to keep him busy. There’s his excellent Amos Walker detective series, his equally excellent Page Murdock Western series and the various crime and western stand-alone novels that have made Estleman one of the finest and most reliable authors in both genres.
So what missing? Apparently, a way to express his love of movies, film history and the contemporary efforts to preserve them both. Enter Valentino, Estleman’s UCLA film archivist whose quest for old, endangered film classics often takes him far from the esoteric world of Hollywood. After starring in several short stories, FRAMES is the first Valentino novel.
Valentino is house hunting as the novel opens, and although his budget is limited, he’s hoping to find a house with its own screening room. His Realtor brings him to the remains of The Oracle, a once-grand movie palace in an area of West Hollywood zoned for both residential and commercial buildings. The price for the most basic renovations is steep, but Valentino can’t resist exploring this remnant of Hollywood’s golden area.
He ends up knocking down a wall in the projection booth and reveals a secret room that stored liquor during Prohibition. But it also contains several cans of old film — and a human skeleton. Valentino’s archivist urges get the better of him and he examines the film cans. And to his shock, they appear to contain the full, uncut reels of GREED, the priceless masterpiece by eccentric director Erich von Stroheim.
Valentino enlists the aid of his friend and mentor, Kyle Broadhead, noted film scholar and UCLA professor. Broadhead brings along his assistant, Fanta, a slightly flaky law student with an enthusiastic interest in movies (though her knowledge of movie history doesn’t go back much further than Julia Roberts). Their dilemma is clear: If they report the skeleton, the police will confiscate the cans of fragile, highly flammable film. The only way they can ensure its safety is to solve the mystery of the bones themselves.
Those unfamiliar with movie lore might find it difficult to appreciate Valentino’s conflict, although Estleman details the troubled saga of GREED throughout the narrative. Then, too, there is the challenge of retaining interest in a possible murder that occurred more than 50 years ago.
Estleman overcomes these obstacles with hefty doses of sly, cynical humor, throughly entertaining characters and agile pacing from first page to last. And, for good measure, he adds a romance between Valentino and a lovely forensics investigator that has all the wit and charm of classic screwball comedy.
But this is Estleman-lite. You won’t find the noir shadings, intricate plotting, nor character introspections that distinguish his other works. Then again, it is also an obvious labor of love (right down to the personally annotated listing of recommended histories, biographies, films and even related novels in the “Closing Credits”), and a hell of a lot of fun. And, let’s face it, it’s difficult for an author as experienced and professional as Estleman to write a really bad story.
So make room on the already huge shelf of Hollywood mysteries for FRAMES and Valentino. We’ve not seen the last of him. And that’s good news. —Alan Cranis
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• AMERICAN DETECTIVE by Loren D. Estleman
• PEEPER by Loren D. Estleman
Related posts:
- FRAMES O’ REFERENCE >> Better than the Movie: Part 1
- FRAMES O’ REFERENCE >> Lost in Translation: Part 2
- FRAMES O’ REFERENCE >> The Printed Page Lies at 24 Words a Second
- FRAMES O’ REFERENCE >> Lost in Translation: Part 1
- FRAMES O’ REFERENCE >> King of Queenan
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Talk about standing out from the shelves! That yellow cover! My eyes! Does it come with “frames” of a different sort, like sunglasses?
I guess in a more perfect world, Estleman’s name is all that would be needed for the book to attract attention. But until that time…there’s that yellow cover.