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Home / Series / Silver Screen Historical Mysteries

Series

Silver Screen Historical Mysteries

British classicist Emma Blackstone arrives in Hollywood in 1924 as companion to her glamorous sister-in-law, silent-film star Camille de la Rose, known professionally as Kitty Flint. Emma soon becomes a scenario editor for Foremost Studios, correcting historical errors while managing Kitty’s dogs, admirers and dangerous impulsiveness.

The series uses murder investigations to explore silent-era filmmaking as both art and industry. Studio publicity, location work, child performers, contracts, manufactured identities and scandal shape the mysteries, while Emma’s scholarly eye exposes the gap between the glamour presented to audiences and the insecurity, exploitation and violence behind the screen.

Reading order

Books in this series (4 books)

Scandal in Babylon cover

#1 – Scandal in Babylon

Barbara Hambly

Los Angeles, 1924. British widow and classical scholar Emma Blackstone works as companion to her sister-in-law Kitty Flint, a beautiful silent-film star whose career depends more on charisma than acting. When Kitty’s estranged first husband Rex Festraw is found murdered in her dressing room with a…

One Extra Corpse cover

#2 – One Extra Corpse

Barbara Hambly

Hollywood, May 1924. Emma now writes and repairs scenarios for Foremost Studios while continuing to manage Kitty. Director Ernst Zapolya urgently asks to meet Kitty, warning that lives depend on it, but Emma and Kitty reach his vast historical set too late and find a death…

Saving Susy Sweetchild cover

#3 – Saving Susy Sweetchild

Barbara Hambly

Hollywood, July 1924. Emma is working on the Western film Our Tiny Miracle when seven-year-old star Susy Sweetchild is nearly killed during a stunt. Susy’s mother, former actress Selina Sutton, seems more concerned with finishing the picture than protecting her daughter, and Emma begins to question…

Death in the Palace cover

#4 – Death in the Palace

Barbara Hambly

November 1924. Silent-film star Kitty Flint receives an extraordinary proposal from wealthy Clark Dexter: $50,000 to marry him and then quietly divorce. Emma distrusts the arrangement, especially when rumours about Dexter are followed by the suspicious death of the person who voiced them. The inquiry carries…