Scandal in Babylon (A Silver Screen historical mystery, 1)
Capturing the spirit of the times from the first page, this mystery features Emma Blackstone, a Roman and Latin scholar enticed to Hollywood, after the death of her husband, by her movie star sister-in-law, Kitty Flint, to oversee script revisions. Overflowing with Hollywood “It”, the wildly impulsive, mercurial Kitty is almost the worst actress in the world, according to Emma, but she loves her all the same, and Kitty is nothing if not stunningly beautiful, trailed by a dizzying array of admirers. Seeing Hollywood’s frenetic madness through Emma’s Oxford-educated British eyes adds an interesting dimension. When Kitty’s estranged ex-husband (one of several) is found in Kitty’s dressing room, shot with Kitty’s gun, Emma and her no-nonsense cameraman boyfriend begin analysing the anomalies of the botched murder scene, clearly meant to discredit Kitty but not to send her to jail. The police are noticeably heavy-footed and more hindrance than help. Kitty’s only defense? – I didn’t do it!
Peppered with a well-rounded supporting cast including a helpful bootlegger and randomly dropped household names from 1920s Hollywood – Swanson, DeMille, Goldwyn, Hearst – the era bursts from the page with cumbersome sets, booming directors, anachronistic props and costumes (gold lamé in Ancient Rome?), over-the-top acting, script changing (Emma hopes audiences can’t lip-read!), sexual melodrama, backstabbing, and outrageous abuse of power. All come together in a tangled web amidst the chaotic hustle-bustle of the film studio. The sensible, much calmer, Latin-quoting Emma compliments the flighty, inconstant Kitty, but that doesn’t make either woman anything other than immensely likeable, and their relationship and fondness is touching. Even Kitty’s three Pekinese play their roles, and Hambly ably balances the seriousness of murder with the substantially less serious excesses of Hollywood without making either one seem trite. Thoroughly engaging.
