The Starlets

Kelly and Thorne follow up The Antiquity Affair with a spry and suspenseful crime novel set just after Hollywood’s golden age. In 1958, the floundering Apex Studios is filming Trojan War saga A Thousand Ships on the tiny Italian island of Tavalli. Studio head Jack Gallo has assured Olympic swimmer–turned–actor Vivienne Rhodes that the project will make her “America’s Golden Girl.” She’s not pleased, therefore, when she arrives in Italy and learns rising star Lottie Lawrence has been cast as Helen of Troy, with Vivienne assigned the smaller role of Cassandra. Tempers flare, but the women put aside their animosity when they learn that mob-connected crew members have put the production in the crosshairs of violent gangsters. After Vivienne and Lottie stumble on evidence of the crew’s shady dealings, they’re targeted by Italian thugs, forcing them to flee first to Monaco and then to the Alps and Rome, with plans to deliver their findings to Interpol. Kelly and Thorne make a clichéd setup entirely their own, wringing surprising depth from Vivienne and Lottie’s mutual thawing without skimping on action or sumptuous descriptions of France and Italy. For movie buffs, this will be as welcome as a cool breeze on a hot day. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Nov.)