Valentino Will Die

By Donis Casey

WHO IS TRYING TO KILL HOLLYWOOD'S GREATEST LOVER?

Though Bianca LaBelle, star of the wildly popular silent movie serial "The Adventures of Bianca Dangereuse", and Rudolph Valentino, the greatest screen idol of all time, have been friends for years, in the summer of 1926 they are finally making their first picture together. Despite their success, one evening at Bianca's fabulous Beverly Hills estate, a troubled Rudy confesses that he has received anonymous death threats.

In a matter of days, filming comes to an abrupt halt when Rudy falls deathly ill. It could be poison, but it's definitely not a coincidence.

As Rudy lies dying, Bianca promises him that she will find out who is responsible. Was it one of his many lovers? A delusional fan? Or perhaps Rudy had run afoul of a mobster whose name Bianca knows all too well? With the help of P.I. Ted Oliver she dives into investigating the end of what had seemed to be the charmed life of Valentino.

The inimitable Bianca brings her star power to the role of female private investigator in Valentino Will Die, a propulsive Hollywood mystery novel, sure to thrill fans of Golden Age movies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Feb 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781464213526

Donis Casey

Donis Casey is an award-winning author whose first novel The Old Buzzard Had It Coming was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book in 2008. She has twice won the Arizona Book Award and has been a finalist for the Willa Award. A former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur, she currently resides in Tempe, Arizona.

Reviews for Valentino Will Die

[vesper1931 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

1926. Rudolph Valentino has been receiving death threats. When he becomes hospitalized in New York he asks his close friend Bianca LaBelle aka Bianca Dangereuse to investigate. Helped by P.I. Ted Oliver who has been retained by female crime lord K.D. Dix they delve into Valentino's life
An enjoyable cozy historical story showing a side of the show business life but not really much of a mystery.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As luck would have it, I've had the pleasure of reading back-to-back two historical mysteries set in Hollywood. Donis Casey's second Bianca Dangereuse mystery, Valentino Will Die, is set in the Silent Movie Era and involves the legendary Rudolph Valentino himself. In reality, film star Bianca LaBelle, the heroine of the wildly popular Bianca Dangereuse film series, is Blanche Tucker, daughter of farm woman Alafair Tucker who was last seen in Forty Dead Men. Living on a farm outside tiny Boynton, Oklahoma, was a fate worse than death for teenage Blanche, so she ran away from home and barely managed to land on her feet in Hollywood. (Readers can find out how that happened in The Wrong Girl.) As much as I enjoy this new series, I'm still fond of Alafair, and Casey cannily includes little clues as to how Bianca's family is doing.The mystery in Valentino Will Die is a good one, and so is the setting. While readers are trying to guess who's got it in for the world's number one heartthrob, they see a fresh-from-Broadway young Hungarian named Bela Lugosi and get to attend swanky parties. Los Angeles mob figures also make their deadly presence known. Amidst the investigating, there are some laughs when Douglas Fairbanks bemoans being typecast, and Bianca learns how difficult it is to make "a stealthy escape from a crowded room when you're famous." But perhaps the biggest laugh of all came from the description of Bianca's beloved dog, Jack Dempsey, a canine that "could be part prairie dog and part something else. Maybe a mongoose. Or a wig." I hope the little guy makes more appearances in future books. I enjoy Casey's handling of historical figures, and while the mystery is deadly serious, she has a light touch that's reminiscent of those silent Perils of Pauline-type serial thrillers. Want to know what's real and what's not? Everything's listed at the back of the book. In the mood for a good mystery to solve? Pick up a copy of Valentino Will Die (and I'm not even going to talk about the ending). I can't wait to find out what Bianca gets up to next!(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)