Beverly Hills dead, by Stuart Woods

At last! A good story from Woods after a series of superficial gloppy books featuring Stone Barrington. Set in 1940's Hollywood, this combines the Hollywood Ten, a slick hero, and (in the last quarter of the book) a murder. Even though it's filled with stereotypes, I enjoyed seeing the back lots of early moviemaking. And you might recognize a couple of names here, if you're a Woods fan.