Murder In Babylon: A Novel Based on Fact

"Druxman has taken Hollywood's most famous murder mystery and turned

it into a fascinating narrative that is so evocative of 1920’s Tinseltown. His

fictional "hero" guides us on a factual journey that not only reveals why the case

remains officially unsolved -- but also identifies the killer!" -- Thomas B. Sawyer

– MURDER, SHE WROTE Head Writer/Showrunner, bestselling author of

CROSS PURPOSES

On the evening of February 1, 1922, silent film director William Desmond Taylor

was shot to death in his Los Angeles home. The murder, coming on the heels of the

“Fatty” Arbuckle scandal, shocked the Hollywood community and the country, resulting

in reform groups labeling the film capital a “modern day Babylon,” and demanding that

movies be censored or, in some communities, even banned.

The murder itself was never “officially” solved, but subsequent revelations about

the director’s unsavory past, as well as his recent secret activities that took him into the

Los Angeles underworld, would keep the case alive in the nation’s press for almost two

decades, and because of their relationship with Taylor, effectively end the careers of two

popular screen stars, Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter.

Ben Birnbaum, a reporter for the Los Angeles Dispatch at the time of the murder,

covered the Taylor case for almost two decades; once almost being killed for his efforts.

His posthumous memoir details his day-to-day investigation to unravel Hollywood’s

most baffling mystery.