Child star Mercy Talbot, now twenty-three-years-old, is a handful. Her mother runs roughshod over everyone in Mercy's career path, and keeps an even tighter rein on her daughter. Until, following the death of a co-star, Mercy decides to get away from it all and hightails it to Italy.

In Italy, Mercy meets up with Juliette Greyson, a hotel executive who is more than personally acquainted with Mercy's self-absorbed behavior. Juliette eyes Mercy just as she is about to take a swan-dive into a fountain. She whisks Mercy away to her family's estate, not sparing a moment to realize that Mercy's baggage— her mother, the entire cast and crew of the film she's starring in, and all the young actress's addictions and personal quirks— would come too.

What I wouldn't give to spend a few weeks at an Italian villa! Mary McNamara's descriptions of the small towns and hamlets over there, not to mention the Greyson estate, simply add to my yearning. The picturesque landscape and interesting people pop off the page.

Mercy is a study in contrasts, at times a petulant actress and at times an insightful and underestimated young woman. Except it's difficult for Juliette— and the reader— to know for sure when Mercy is acting and when she's presenting her true self. As such, McNamara keeps her characters and her readers off balance until the end, heightening the desire to finish reading the story.

What starts out as a young woman's journey toward freedom and recovery from addiction morphs into a murder mystery. When Mercy's entourage and film production follow her, so do the secrets and unresolved issues she is trying to flee, and Juliette finds herself smack dab in the middle of it all.

At times I wanted to choke Mercy for her antics. At other times, I wanted to choke Juliette for putting up with Mercy's antics. In the end, THE STARLET is an entertaining read.