Alive! -- Loren D. Estleman

I've enjoyed the stories about Valentino, Estleman's film archivist, in EQMM, but this is the first novel in the series that I've read.  What Valentino is looking for this time is the lost screen test (it really was filmed) that Bela Lugosi did for Frankenstein.  

It seems as if every time Valentino begins looking for some piece of old film, somebody dies.  This time it's an old friend, Craig Hunter, who's the one who knows where the missing footage is.  Other people want it, and they don't mind killing to get it.  No one knows what the value would be, but a million dollars isn't out of the question.

What entertains me most about the Valentino stories is all the great film lore that Estleman includes.  All of it's authentic, and Estleman provides a bibliography and notes at the end of the book.  You can skip the bibliography if you want to, but I recommend reading the notes.

Another thing that was fun in this book was Estleman's take on "steampunk."  Valentino's very sympathetic to it.  Check it out.