The Old Reliable / Книга на Английском; Everyman, 2011

Following the death of Carmen Flores, the lubricious Mexican star, her Hollywood house is bought by wealthy Adela Cork, whose impecunious brother-inlawSmedley searches forCarmen’s legendary lost diary, in the belief that its scorching revelations about the sex life of her fellow stars will make him millions. He is helped and hindered by a posse of engaging characters: a safe-cracking butler, an unemployed scriptwriter and the girl who won’t marry him, a goofy English peer, two Beverly Hills policemen who would much rather be actors, and – former queen of the silent screen, and the terror of directors and husbands alike – the redoubtable Adela herself. Fortunately, her sister, ‘Bill’ Shannon, not for nothing nicknamed ‘The Old Reliable’, is on hand to ensure a satisfactory outcome. A light comedy which is also a sharp satire on Hollywood mores.