The Brink of Fame by Irene Fleming

Title: The Brink of Fame
Author: Irene Fleming
ISBN: 9780312575441
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011
Hardcover, 256 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #2 Emily Daggett mystery
Rating: B
Source: the author

First Line: When Emily Daggett Weiss boarded the Twentieth Century Limited in the spring of 1914, bound for a brief sojourn in the West, one or two old biddies gave her the hairy eye.

Women just don't travel without a chaperone in those days, so Emily gets more than two hairy eyeballs looking in her direction along the route. Her husband has been out in Flagstaff, Arizona, scouting for a location to shoot their next picture and trying to locate some camels to use in the movie. When Emily inquires at the hotel registration desk, she finds out in no short order that her husband has lost their movie company in a poker game-- and he's taken an actress down to Mexico where he can get a divorce and marry the new love of his life. For Emily, the earth has just shifted on its axis.

Left penniless and alone, the former chorus girl is looking for ways to gather up enough money to return East on the train when she meets Holbert Bruns, who's in Flagstaff investigating something for movie mogul Carl Laemmle. Bruns persuades Emily to head West on the train instead. The case he's on is proving difficult, and Bruns thinks Emily can get information that he can't. Once he explains this to Carl Laemmle, Laemmle will be sure to hire her-- and once the case is over, Emily can concentrate on becoming a director of moving pictures.

In California, everything works out as Bruns predicted. Emily is hired as an additional investigator, and Laemmle is very interested in having her direct one of his films-- as soon as she helps locate his missing leading man. Once actor Ross McHenry is found, Emily's career as a director can begin.

Emily is a very winning character, and in trying to overcome her abandonment and in her reactions to various people and places in Los Angeles, she's often quite funny. I enjoy this series-- not only for Emily-- but for all the information about the early days of the film industry. If I have any complaint about The Brink of Fame, it's that most of the secondary characters are two-dimensional and never quite come to life. However, the setting and the main character are strong enough for me to overlook that for the most part.

Do you need to read the first book in the series in order to make sense of this second book? No. There's enough information given where everything makes sense, and not so much that it will spoil the plot if you decide to read the first. Fleming has struck gold in this mystery series that takes place during the early days of the movie industry, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures in Hollywood.

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The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming

Title: The Edge of Ruin
Author: Irene Fleming
ISBN: 9780312575205
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2010
Hardcover, 240 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Emily Daggett Weiss mystery
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

First Line: One sunny afternoon in the fall of 1909, Adam Weiss came home to the three-story Dutch Colonial house he shared with his new wife in suburban Philadelphia, hung his derby hat on the hat rack, and announced to her that he was selling his string of nickelodeons-- and everything else the couple owned-- to go to New York City and set himself up as a movie producer.

Having signed a contract that will ruin them if they don't turn in four completed movies in a month, there's no time to waste in selling everything, moving to New York, and putting together a cast of actors, props, costumes, and a camera man.

They've barely begun filming across the river in New Jersey when a former Pinkerton detective is murdered on set, and Adam Weiss is declared the killer and carted off to jail. Emily is left behind to continue filming so they won't lose everything and to find proof that will exonerate her husband.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that I immediately knew whom the killer was; otherwise, this was a very enjoyable book to read.

Having the book set during the early days of the movie industry when Edison had an iron grip on his patents and hired men to discourage any and all independent movie companies was a stroke of genius. Not only are there ideas for a million future books in this period, it's also fun and educational to read about the birth of one of our favorite forms of entertainment.

The book moves very quickly-- almost as quickly as those one-reelers Emily was producing-- and the characters are well drawn and grab the imagination.

Emily is young, pretty, and a former chorine on stage. Adam is handsome and extremely ambitious. Within a very few pages, these two gain more depth. All their possessions are sold, including a good part of Emily's wardrobe-- but not a stitch of Adam's-- which throws up a red flag concerning Adam's character. A little later when Adam is jailed and Emily is in charge of writing the storylines and scenes for the movies, Emily is shown to be highly intelligent, capable of taking charge, and not willing to knuckle under to threats-- not exactly the type of woman who's going to blend well with a man like Adam.

The history was fascinating, the story quick-paced and well-plotted, and combined with the growth of the two main characters, this all leads me to the conclusion that I've found another series of which to keep track.

Life is good!

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