From Publishers Weekly
Despite occasionally stilted prose and some dubious police procedure, the latest in the Hobart Lindsey/Marvia Plum series (after The Bessie Blue Killer) is an effective puzzler in which the appealing interracial team (Lindsey is white; Plum is black) explore the early days of black filmmaking in California. Insurance investigator Lindsey checks out the fire at the Pacific Film Archive in which a graduate student died and learns from his significant other, Berkeley police officer Plum, that the fire was caused by arson. The next day, 90-year-old Edward MacReedy appears at Lindsey's office to collect on his recently deceased wife's 1934, $25 whole-life policy; while he's there, his retirement-home room is torched, destroying the records and mementos of his years as a film director. Determining that the second fire was a case of arson similar to the first, Lindsey doggedly sniffs out what MacReedy knows and tries to figure out why, and to whom, the old director's memories are a threat. With a perspective on black filmmaking and skillful pacing, Lupoff makes the most of both period and suspense elements in his mystery.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Lupoff's previous Hobart Lindsey-Marvia Plum mysteries have been popular, and his growing number of fans will probably want to read his latest. But even though it's an okay novel, it just doesn't have the sparkle, wit, imagination, and charm of his earlier
Bessie Blue Killer. The plot is interesting enough, centering on an elderly gentleman named Edward "Speedy" MacReedy, a famous African American filmmaker in 1930s Hollywood. MacReedy has submitted an ancient life insurance policy to International Surety, but before the company will pay up, Hobart winds up investigating a deadly arson fire, a case of mistaken identity, and a years-old tragedy with far-reaching repercussions. But even Hobart's considerable charm and subtle wit, his intriguing romance with Sergeant Marvia Plum, and his often-humorous battles with his mother and his employers can't speed up the plodding pace, inject charm into the flat characters, or turn this story into anything more than an average read. For series fans only.
Emily Melton
