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A review by bargainsleuth
Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen: A Novel by Sarah James
5.0
If you like film noir classics like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon and more, you might like Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen. Set during World War II in Hollywood, the book gives off all the noir feelings those classic movies had.
If you want to know what it was like in Hollywood during the war, this novel gives off all the vibes. The Hollywood Canteen was run by local studios and movie stars themselves because Los Angeles was the ship-off port for men headed to the Pacific war front. Annie, the main character, is a playwright/screenwriter who has just made her way to Hollywood, following her “close friends.” a married couple who were actors in Annie’s most successful murder mystery plays. I say friends because the throuple lived life clandestinely in New York, but one gossip columnist made references to the “unusual” relationship the group had. In order to squash the rumors, the couple quickly signs a deal with a movie studio and leave Annie behind, but she soon has her own deal and heads west.
While in Hollywood, Annie falls into the circle of friends surrounding the very same gossip columnist who tried to out her relationship, Fiona Figg. Fiona has plenty of hangers-on of misfits called the Ambassador’s Club. One night at the Hollywood Canteen, Fiona is found dead. Soon it comes out how she died, and it just so happens it was an unusual way of poisoning someone, the same way Annie wrote about in one of her hit plays. Naturally, Annie becomes a suspect.
The rest of the book follows Annie and her friends as they investigate Fiona’s murder to clear her name and find the real culprit. She has a tendency to jump to conclusions every time a new piece of evidence is unearthed, but on the whole, I enjoyed the investigation and the quirks of the Ambassador’s Club. If you pay attention close enough, you’ll figure out who the murderer was, but you can still enjoy the mystery. A solid 4-star book!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
For more reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com.
If you want to know what it was like in Hollywood during the war, this novel gives off all the vibes. The Hollywood Canteen was run by local studios and movie stars themselves because Los Angeles was the ship-off port for men headed to the Pacific war front. Annie, the main character, is a playwright/screenwriter who has just made her way to Hollywood, following her “close friends.” a married couple who were actors in Annie’s most successful murder mystery plays. I say friends because the throuple lived life clandestinely in New York, but one gossip columnist made references to the “unusual” relationship the group had. In order to squash the rumors, the couple quickly signs a deal with a movie studio and leave Annie behind, but she soon has her own deal and heads west.
While in Hollywood, Annie falls into the circle of friends surrounding the very same gossip columnist who tried to out her relationship, Fiona Figg. Fiona has plenty of hangers-on of misfits called the Ambassador’s Club. One night at the Hollywood Canteen, Fiona is found dead. Soon it comes out how she died, and it just so happens it was an unusual way of poisoning someone, the same way Annie wrote about in one of her hit plays. Naturally, Annie becomes a suspect.
The rest of the book follows Annie and her friends as they investigate Fiona’s murder to clear her name and find the real culprit. She has a tendency to jump to conclusions every time a new piece of evidence is unearthed, but on the whole, I enjoyed the investigation and the quirks of the Ambassador’s Club. If you pay attention close enough, you’ll figure out who the murderer was, but you can still enjoy the mystery. A solid 4-star book!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
For more reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com.