Scandal in Babylon

Set in 1924 Hollywood, this excellent series launch from Hambly (the Benjamin January series) introduces Emma Blackstone, a proper young English widow who’s thrust into a world of decadent movie moguls, PIs, bootleggers, and their varied hangers-on. Emma’s heart lies in classical archaeology, but after the death of her American soldier husband in the Great War, she faced a dreary penniless future in England as a paid companion. Emma’s rescued by her sister, Kitty Flint, a sultry Hollywood sex goddess, who hires her to keep the gossip columnists at bay. When Kitty’s unsavory first husband is found shot to death in her dressing room, Kitty becomes the prime suspect. Emma, though sorely tempted to take up her aunt’s offer of a home in Oxford, turns ladylike private eye to prove Kitty’s innocence. The lurid Hollywood backdrop, as reflected particularly in Kitty’s steamy roles in the movie Temptress of Babylon and the upcoming Hot Potato, contrasts nicely with Emma’s elegiac longing for her vanished world. This splendid romp is sure to win Hambly new fans. Agent: Frances Collin, Frances Collin Literary. (Sept.)