The first in the Valentino series when Valentino, a UCLA film archivist considers buying an old run down movie theatre where he discovered cans of film that appear to be valuable. A skeleton also showed up with the film so the theatre becomes a crime scene. Valentino investigates the mystery himself to avoid having to hand over the film to police who might mishandle it. Estleman includes a lot of witty lines and movie history in the series that makes it even more fun. Recommended for fans of old movies. ( )

So, I probably shouldn't admit that I have absolutely no recollection of having read this book in 2008. No matter—it was a delightful cozy mystery starring a UCLA film archivist who buys an old movie theater in desperate need of renovation, in which he finds a lost movie . . . and a skeleton. ( )

I read this book next after finishing Comeback, the return of Richard Stark’s Parker, and in a way it seems appropriate. Westlake had balanced the hardcore Richard Stark books with the comic romps of a smalltime thief named Dortmunder, written under his own name. Estleman, whose best known for hardboiled P.I. Amos Walker, has branched out into Dortmunder territory with Frames. It’s not the first time. In 1991 Estleman wrote Peeper, a send-up of every cliché in the P.I. handbook. It took until 2008 for Valentino to show up, at least in novel form; he has been featured in many short stories. A film archivist, his love of movie history overwhelms practicality (both financial and realistic) the moment steps inside a neglected old movie theatre. He buys it, and promptly discovers the print of a long lost silent movie alongside the skeletal remains of a murder victim. Valentino finds himself forced to solve the murder before the LAPD confiscates the film as evidence, which he can’t allow because the print is in such a fragile state that improper handling would destroy it. A lighthearted and often humorous misadventure. ( )

Valentino is a film archivist at UCLA. On a whim he buys an old theater and in the basement he discovers a full copy of the long lost film Greed and a skeleton. Valentino races to solve the mystery before the LAPD harms the film by holding it as evidence. A fun mystery. ( )

This is a cute, fluff type mystery. Here we have Valentino - who buys an old, abandoned theatre. On inspection, he find a missing movie - all 10ish hours of it. And a body, that has been there as long as the movie reels.. Which brings the police. When the very fragile movie is wanted as evidence - its up to Valentino to solve the crime before the police confiscate his priceless find...

The book is fluff. Even the murder happened 50ish years ago - so none of the horror or unpleasantness of a more recent crime. The characters are cute, if a little cardboard. I do like the setting of Hollywood - it makes for a nice backdrop. The film as evidence seems to be a bit... farfetched. I can't see a police department potentially ruining what might be a lead simple due to procedure, plus... the evidence is already compromised when it was taken out of the room it was found in.

So, to sum up - Cute. Not too serious. Fun read, especially for a beach, but not much else. ( )