The Long Silence
Long Silence, The A 1920s' Hollywood noir mystery by Gerard O'Donovan Severn House Publishers Historical Fiction Pub Date 01 May 2018
Review
The Long Silence is classic Hollywood noir at its best - at once glamorous and dark. It takes you behind the scenes of early Hollywood, peeling back the glitter, letting you see the personalities and the troubles people like fixer turned PI, Tom Collins was hired to hide.
The Long Silence is based on the real life unsolved murder of movie director William Desmond Taylor - not an easy task. Gerard O’Donovan does a fantastic job bringing Tom
Collins and his other players to life and creating a plausible if fictional explanation.
Tom Collins is a PI, still on the hook to Hollywood high rollers. When a director is killed, he is hired to protect Mabel Normand a troubled star and Taylor’s rumored fiancé. Tom quickly discovers more is going on behind the scenes, and that Taylor’s murder is just the tip of an iceberg formed by money, drugs and corruption.
The Long Silence is an excellent mystery, perfect for fans of classic noir and early Hollywood. Tom Collins is witty, and perfectly believable as a private eye who still has a moral code. I’m looking forward to Gerard O Donovan’s next novel.
5 / 5
I received a copy of The Long Silence from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
— Crittermom
Description
Introducing Irish-born cop turned private investigator Tom Collins in the first of a brand-new historical mystery series. February, 1922. Hollywood is young but already mired in scandal. When a leading movie director is murdered, Irish-American investigator Tom Collins is called in by studio boss Mack Sennett, whose troubled star, Mabel Normand, is rumoured to be involved. But Normand has gone missing. And, as Collins discovers, there’s a growing list of suspects. His quest leads him through the brutal heart of Prohibition-era Los Angeles, from speakeasies and dope dens to the studios and salons of Hollywood’s fabulously wealthy movie elite, and to a secret so explosive it must be kept silent at any cost … Inspired by the unsolved real-life murder of movie director William Desmond Taylor, The Long Silence is the first in a richly evocative, instantly compelling series of new noir mysteries set in Hollywood’s early days
