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amyappy's review
4.0
This book was so much fun! Loved the setting, loved the characters, loved the mystery, loved everything. A sort of hard-boiled detective novel turned on its head, with the secretary as the protagonist-cum-sleuth. Kitty Pangborn is delightful and bright and determined, Dex (the actual PI) is handsome and gruff and flawed a la Humphrey Bogart, and all of it is wrapped up with a story that is much more than a simple whodunit. Will read the first book in the series, but wish there was more... :-(
novelesque_life's review
4.0
3.5 STARS
"In 1931, while most of Los Angeles is struggling to survive the Depression, the business of Hollywood is booming. And everyone wants a piece. The movies have always been cutthroat and, as girl Friday Kitty Pangborn is about to find out, that’s more than a metaphor.
Kitty’s boss, private detective Dexter Theroux, has been asked to help leading man Laird Wyndham prove his innocence. The actor was the last person to be seen with a young actress who died under very suspicious circumstances, and the star has fallen from the big screen to the big house. Wyndham’s a dreamboat, but that isn’t the only thing that has Kitty hot under the collar. Dex has already signed a client---one who’s hired him to prove Wyndham’s hands are not as clean as they look." (From Amazon)
Noir at it's best...set in Hollywood 1930s. A great detective story.
"In 1931, while most of Los Angeles is struggling to survive the Depression, the business of Hollywood is booming. And everyone wants a piece. The movies have always been cutthroat and, as girl Friday Kitty Pangborn is about to find out, that’s more than a metaphor.
Kitty’s boss, private detective Dexter Theroux, has been asked to help leading man Laird Wyndham prove his innocence. The actor was the last person to be seen with a young actress who died under very suspicious circumstances, and the star has fallen from the big screen to the big house. Wyndham’s a dreamboat, but that isn’t the only thing that has Kitty hot under the collar. Dex has already signed a client---one who’s hired him to prove Wyndham’s hands are not as clean as they look." (From Amazon)
Noir at it's best...set in Hollywood 1930s. A great detective story.
jesssicawho's review
3.0
Review published here: http://www.hipsterbookclub.com/reviews/copy/0309/death_was_in_the_picture_linda_l_richards.html
Linda L. Richards's Death Was in the Picture is a detective story set in 1930s Los Angeles, amid the contrasting glamour of Hollywood and the troubling Great Depression. Though the plot has some shortcomings, the thrilling backdrop of an excessive and scandalous Tinseltown makes the read fleetingly enjoyable but ultimately forgettable.
When a young starlet is found dead during a ritzy Hollywood shindig, all eyes immediately turn to dreamboat actor Laird Wyndham, the last person seen with the woman. Despite the suspicious circumstances and a merciless media that has already pegged him as guilty, Wyndham asserts his innocence. Private investigator Dexter Theroux finds himself in a pickle when he's hired by both sides: a peculiar anonymous organization intent on keeping Wyndham behind bars and the accused himself in search of the real culprit.
Dex might be the hired expert, but it is often his secretary and makeshift sidekick Katherine (Kitty) Pangborn who runs the show, and it is through her eyes that we watch the story unfold. Kitty and Dex, first introduced in Richards's Death Was the Other Woman, have a comical and friendly rapport, bouncing ideas and wisecracks off each other. Kitty's name might not be on the door, but she is every bit as vital to the business as Dex. Without her, he would waste away in his office with a bottle of Jack Daniels until the money ran out. Keeping Dex in line and on task might be Kitty's first priority—after all, her paycheck depends on his work—but her brains and moxie provide a different perspective to the investigation.
While Dex and Kitty's back-and-forth banter and unfulfilled sexual tension is fun to read, they aren't the sharpest gumshoes. They spend most of their time going in circles, talking to the same few people while overlooking what readers will pick up as obvious signs of conspiracy. To be fair to them—at the expense of the author—there doesn't seem to be much to investigate. For the reader, the real fun of a murder-mystery is piecing together clues as the story progresses, but there aren't many pieces to pick up, at least not for the majority of the book. We have a famous actor arrested for a violent crime for which the police and media think he is fully capable and responsible, but our detective team has a hunch that he is innocent. The few people they interrogate paint a very neutral portrait of the accused: He has something of a temper but probably couldn't actually commit murder. Or maybe he could. No one is willing to get off the fence about it.
A main drawback of the book is that instead of focusing on the actual murder mystery and solving the crime, Richards tries to make a statement about the ethical standards and shortcomings of the movie business in its early years. By trying to tie in a real, historical scandal with the fictional account, she introduces too many components without allowing proper buildup and development, resulting in a flat and patchy plot. Richards gets a point for being ambitious, but she fails to follow through and ends up needing to explain the historical aspects and relevance in a closing commentary.
What the book lacks in plot, it makes up in setting and mood. Though the 1930s setting is standard for a noir detective story, Richards excels at bringing that whimsical world of excess alive. When Kitty finds herself in situations most people can only dream of—sitting across the table from the biggest star in the world, attending a lavish party filled with celebrities, on set during the filming of an epic movie—readers share her astonishment and delight. Even Richards's portrayal of Los Angeles's other side—the one crumbling under the pressure of the Depression—draws readers into the story. The book certainly doesn't break any ground in the genre, but it will provide readers with an evening or two of escape from reality.
Had Richards focused more on the murder mystery rather than trying to make a statement about morality in Hollywood, readers could focus on the book's strengths more than its disappointments. Death Was in the Picture works better when considered a period piece, rather than a suspenseful whodunit. With a gutsy female lead like Kitty, as well as the fascinating background of 1931, future books in this series could impress. Sadly, the lack of cohesive plot and brain-teasing mystery in this release leaves much to be desired for crime novel fans.
Linda L. Richards's Death Was in the Picture is a detective story set in 1930s Los Angeles, amid the contrasting glamour of Hollywood and the troubling Great Depression. Though the plot has some shortcomings, the thrilling backdrop of an excessive and scandalous Tinseltown makes the read fleetingly enjoyable but ultimately forgettable.
When a young starlet is found dead during a ritzy Hollywood shindig, all eyes immediately turn to dreamboat actor Laird Wyndham, the last person seen with the woman. Despite the suspicious circumstances and a merciless media that has already pegged him as guilty, Wyndham asserts his innocence. Private investigator Dexter Theroux finds himself in a pickle when he's hired by both sides: a peculiar anonymous organization intent on keeping Wyndham behind bars and the accused himself in search of the real culprit.
Dex might be the hired expert, but it is often his secretary and makeshift sidekick Katherine (Kitty) Pangborn who runs the show, and it is through her eyes that we watch the story unfold. Kitty and Dex, first introduced in Richards's Death Was the Other Woman, have a comical and friendly rapport, bouncing ideas and wisecracks off each other. Kitty's name might not be on the door, but she is every bit as vital to the business as Dex. Without her, he would waste away in his office with a bottle of Jack Daniels until the money ran out. Keeping Dex in line and on task might be Kitty's first priority—after all, her paycheck depends on his work—but her brains and moxie provide a different perspective to the investigation.
While Dex and Kitty's back-and-forth banter and unfulfilled sexual tension is fun to read, they aren't the sharpest gumshoes. They spend most of their time going in circles, talking to the same few people while overlooking what readers will pick up as obvious signs of conspiracy. To be fair to them—at the expense of the author—there doesn't seem to be much to investigate. For the reader, the real fun of a murder-mystery is piecing together clues as the story progresses, but there aren't many pieces to pick up, at least not for the majority of the book. We have a famous actor arrested for a violent crime for which the police and media think he is fully capable and responsible, but our detective team has a hunch that he is innocent. The few people they interrogate paint a very neutral portrait of the accused: He has something of a temper but probably couldn't actually commit murder. Or maybe he could. No one is willing to get off the fence about it.
A main drawback of the book is that instead of focusing on the actual murder mystery and solving the crime, Richards tries to make a statement about the ethical standards and shortcomings of the movie business in its early years. By trying to tie in a real, historical scandal with the fictional account, she introduces too many components without allowing proper buildup and development, resulting in a flat and patchy plot. Richards gets a point for being ambitious, but she fails to follow through and ends up needing to explain the historical aspects and relevance in a closing commentary.
What the book lacks in plot, it makes up in setting and mood. Though the 1930s setting is standard for a noir detective story, Richards excels at bringing that whimsical world of excess alive. When Kitty finds herself in situations most people can only dream of—sitting across the table from the biggest star in the world, attending a lavish party filled with celebrities, on set during the filming of an epic movie—readers share her astonishment and delight. Even Richards's portrayal of Los Angeles's other side—the one crumbling under the pressure of the Depression—draws readers into the story. The book certainly doesn't break any ground in the genre, but it will provide readers with an evening or two of escape from reality.
Had Richards focused more on the murder mystery rather than trying to make a statement about morality in Hollywood, readers could focus on the book's strengths more than its disappointments. Death Was in the Picture works better when considered a period piece, rather than a suspenseful whodunit. With a gutsy female lead like Kitty, as well as the fascinating background of 1931, future books in this series could impress. Sadly, the lack of cohesive plot and brain-teasing mystery in this release leaves much to be desired for crime novel fans.
holtfan's review
2.0
Disappointing. While I occasionally saw glimpses of the Kitty and Dex that drew me in to [b:Death Was the Other Woman|1387577|Death Was the Other Woman|Linda L. Richards|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312025340s/1387577.jpg|1377643], it was a very different book. Not nearly as interesting as it could have been. I figured out whodunit the minute the character was introduced. The historical/architectural commentary which, I admit, bored me in the first book was even more prevalent here and even more slow. Kitty experiences weird, random emotions that felt totally out of character for her Plot elements were stuck together, with characters introduced and ignored. Unnecessary details sometimes add to a plot but in this case it just dragged the whole thing out. Kitty and Dex go from one event to the other with little rhyme or reason. Things just unfold around them. Part of the solution is so complex the characters themselves dismiss it as ridiculous, the other part so simple it felt like the author just wanted to be done. Beautiful writing but the plot was slow and clunky and hard to get into. Good potential and possibility. Unfortunately, doesn't live up to it.
Of course, I still love the Kitty/Dex tension and the Dex/Mustard bond.
Spoiler
Making out with some old, fat actor? Triumphing in the fear she caused in another woman?Of course, I still love the Kitty/Dex tension and the Dex/Mustard bond.
mutantreptile's review
3.0
The ending was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I liked this one more than Death Was the Other Woman.
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