Last Night At The Holywood Canteen.

 

 

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 *Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review*  

 

Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made. 

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group―each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers―that call themselves the Ambassador's Club. 

 
Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back. 

 

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 Historical fiction mixed with murder mystery; how could you not be curious? I haven’t read many of those, but I have read a few. It was mostly the title that had captured my attention and the cover. I’m so glad that I decided to check this book out. Last Night At Hollywood Canteen had everything I love about historical fiction and mysteries. There was a slow start initially, but turning the pages didn’t take long, making me wonder what would happen next. Like everyone else, I asked who was behind the murder of Fiona and their reason behind it; what was their motive? I wondered if Fiona’s friends from the Ambassador’s Club could be responsible for her murder. Every page made it harder for me to put the book back down. I would have read all night if it wasn’t for work the following day. 

I enjoyed reading about most characters, but Annie was my favorite. In my opinion, she had the most character development throughout the book. Sometimes, I thought that Annie was the only one who wanted to know what happened to Fiona. Others seemed to want to believe what the cops said when Fiona was first discovered. I wondered if someone would get angry, Annie, to be different in this case. I was afraid that there was a chance that Annie might be next. There was another part of me why Annie wanted to figure out what happened that badly, considering what she said about her. I did feel that Annie got close to Fiona’s friend too fast. The Ambassador’s Club had known each other for years, and Annie just met them, and they all acted as if they had been best friends for years. 

I loved the descriptions of old Hollywood. I was always fascinated with how different Hollywood was from what it is now. I had also wondered how the writing behind shows and plays was during those days. I felt as if I was transformed into Hollywood along with Annie and all her friends. Most of the time, I couldn’t pull away from the books; I fell in love with the characters and the plot. This was the first book I have read by Sarah James , and now I wonder what adventures await us next.