Alone

Loren Estleman and Valentino are a combination that cannot be beat. The only tie would be with Robert B. Parker and Spenser. Keep them coming!

"Now when evening came, He was alone there." -- Matthew 14:23 Don't start this series with Alone: Go back and read Frames first, the initial book in the Valentino series. I'm a big fan of Loren D. Estleman and picked up a copy of Alone on the strength of that liking. Utterly charmed by the story, I pulled my reading temporarily to a halt mid-way through and headed out to find Frames. The back story for Alone seemed just too good to be true. I had to find out more. I'm sure glad that I did. I won't share any details. That will rob the story of its charm. Mr. Estleman can tell Valentino's story much better than I can hope to do. If you are looking for an action thriller with a hard-boiled detective in a noir style, Alone won't appeal to you. But if you have a fondness for Hollywood, the history of the movies, the silent movie era, and a romantic mystery filled with outrageously good humor, Alone will charm you for sure. On the surface, Alone can feel like fluff . . . but beneath the almost self-satirical humor lies a delightful plot, a gag environment, and a Keystone Kops-like approach to detection that fits closer to Stephanie Plum than to Sherlock Holmes. Be warned that the murder mystery is simply there to move the plot along. If you like difficult whodunits, this book also isn't for you. To me, the humorous mystery is the most difficult kind of book to write. Mr. Estleman carries it off like the pro that he is. He's having so much fun with this story that you cannot help but smile at the plot and in his obvious pleasure in writing the book. If you have ever been hassled by a building inspector, you'll especially like this book. Bravo!

Valentino is a film preservationist who is restoring a movie palace. His girlfriend Harriet, a forensic pathologist, is a dead ringer for Greta Garbo. They are invited to a Garbo costume party hosted by Rankin, a rich businessman. His wife was a close friend of Garbo and they corresponded frequently. He has in his possession Garbo's first appearance on film, a short called "How Not To Dress." Through Valentino's interest in this film, he becomes involved in a murder investigation. Rankin has killed his secretary in self defense. He was black mailing Rankin with a love letter from Garbo to his wife. Valentino's life gets even more complicated when a building inspector tries to stop the renovation of his movie theater. He is evicted from the theater, where he happens to be living, and moves in with his mentor Broadbent, an elderly insomniac film historian who is dating a twenty year old. This novel is the second in the Valentino mystery series. It is a fun read. Valentino's experience is full of odd characters and situations. His work as a film preservationist lends interesting cinema history to the narrative. Valentino's personal life and the bits of film history out shine the actual mystery. Although, there is a twist at the end that I did not see coming.

"Alone" is the second installment in the Valentino mystery series by Loren D. Estleman. Having not read the other book in the series, "Frames," it was difficult at first to acclimate myself to the characters and their relationships. However, "Alone" truly makes me want to read "Frames" to find out more about these characters' back stories. The protagonist, Valentino, works for UCLA as a film archivist who strives to recover lost movies and footage. This work brings him into contact with some of the people that were involved with old Hollywood. The focus in "Alone" surrounds a murder mystery that includes a scandal surrounding the late Greta Garbo. It falls to Valentino to play detective in sorting out the hints that are being dropped to him and the clues that the police are turning up, all the while dealing with the various aspects of his everyday life, friendships and relationships. "Alone" is a quick read that is entertaining, informative, and surprising. All the characters, the good and the bad, can be related to, making the good ones likable and the bad ones sympathetic. There is a healthy amount of information on the transitional era of Hollywood from silent films to talkies and the life of Garbo. For being only the second work in the Valentino Mystery series, it is a solid start to the series and it looks like it will only get better as the series grows.

If you like the writing style and format of Robert Randisi (the recent "Rat Pack" mysteries) or the Toby Peters series by Stuart Kaminski , then you'll enjoy Estleman's books starring Valentino. Valentino is a UCLA film archivist who's job is to recover long-lost movies for the university. Of course his quest leads to mysteries and people associated with the Hollywood of old, thus providing an interesting connection between the old and the new. This particular story places him in a modern day murder involving the now deceased but once noted-reclusive Greta Garbo. Estleman has written 60-some novels so he obviously has honed a smooth and consistant writing style. Although he is perhaps most known for his westerns, he does an excellent job of creating other characters and a more than passable effort of putting them in plausable situations. His two intriguing books about Sherlock Holmes, for instance, one that connected him to Dr. Jekyl and the another to Dracula, come to mind. Readers of the Valentino series will find some interesting facts regarding early movie making and people in the industry, making the series worth reading for that information alone. Because of that, his Valentino series tends to be more than just about the mystery at hand. But that's okay...by adding new and developing characters, I can foresee this series evolving into an far more interesting product than it currently is... although right now it isn't bad.