In THE GLAMOURS DEAD the Dream Factory is the setting and one of the biggest stars of "The Golden Age" of Cinema, Barbara Stanwyck offers to help a movie extra, Penny Harper solve the murder of Penny's best friend Rosemary.

The time is 1940 and Barbara Stanwyck is making one of her greatest and funniest movies, THE LADY EVE.. The inner workings of the Hollywood Dream factory are set out for everyone to see the ruthlessness and backstabbing that goes on.

There's lots of Hollywood trivia, and descriptions of locations that were once the meeting places of the stars, is fun to read.

Penny and Rosemary were roomies, but they had secrets. The mystery is interesting, and Stanwyck is a real plus for the novel.

*thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

1 star

DNF @28%

Im so sorry but this just bored me. As much as I wanted to, I could not get into it. It's SUCH a shame because the description sounded pretty good and I just love the cover! Hopefully others enjoy this more than I did.

1940's Hollywood. A murder mystery. And an amateur sleuth trying to clear her name in the murder of her friend. I really enjoyed this novel. 3.5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of The Glamorous Dead.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a smart, sophisticated and witty original murder mystery.
It was very well written and the author had me actually believing that I was in Hollywood in the 1940’s.
I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

I have to be honest, this book just did not work for me. I am a fan of Hollywood and it's heyday, so I was very happy to receive this book. This book left me confused many times. This was due to the style of writing and the narration. It just never flowed. I kept finding myself going back and re-reading parts due to the confusion. The synopsis of this book had me so ready for this book. I had to put the book down and come back to it hoping that it would pick up, but alas, it did not for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publsher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Suzanne Gates, and Kensington Books for allowing me to read and review The Glamorous Dead. I thought that this book was just alright and I'm sad to say that it didn't really hold my attention well.

The Black Dahlia + You Must Remember This = The Glamorous Dead.

The 1940's and Hollywood have been done, several times. I think I've read 4 different books in that time period/setting this year. The Glamorous Dead visits this era and tries to evoke a sense of terror and dread on the mystery of pink fingernailed thumb.

There's details of backlots and morgues and an actual Big Time Movie Star (Barbara Stanwyck). I wanted to like this book. I really did, but the characters left me bored and I feel like I rushed through this just to find out who did it.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this ARC.

Old Hollywood at its creepest. Murder, intrigue, and villains gallore with a few good ones thrown in.

A great story, and a great look at the golden age of Hollywood studios and its stars. Features Barbara Stanwyck and a host of mesmerizing characters, and a captivating mystery.

As featured in the Esotouric bus adventures newsletter 11/3/2017 and on our Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles Facebook page

RECOMMENDED READING: Occasionally, one of our gentle riders lets slip that they're working on a book about the city. And the newest volume on that shelf is Suzanne Gates' just-released 1940s Hollywood murder mystery The Glamorous Dead, a grim tale of extras on the make, buried secrets and film star Barbara Stanwyck's odd fascination with the heroine's troubles. Set against the backdrop of the making of Preston Sturges' comic masterpiece The Lady Eve, and scrupulously researched at the Academy library, Paramount and LAPD archives and on our tour bus, this debut is a wild ride.

A book that transports the reader to the glamour of Hollywood and the film industry set in the golden era of the 1940,s when the film directors and the system had overall power on the destination of their stars.
It is into this romantic illusion of Hollywood that Rose and Penny decide to try their luck but all is not what it seems.
Beautifully written evocative of the era and well researched .
A crime novel with a difference

I was unable to make it past 45%in the boom. I had a very hard time with the main character,Penny. Sadly, I put this down several times and decided to stop reading.

The story takes place in 1940 in Hollywood. Penny Harp, an actress wannabe, has found herself in a middle of a murder investigation. Two of her friends have been murdered, and Penny suspects that both deaths are somehow connected. Barbara Stanwyck befriends Penny during the making of one of the movies, and helps her to find the truth. During the investigation, Penny discovers non-glamorous and dark secrets about her friends, her brother and her employer - Paramount. The last secret holds everything together. Penny later discovers that Paramount likes to "fix" any problems that come upon the company or people that work there. Penny questions everything and everyone and is eager to learn the truth, but the truth can cost Penny her life. Will she let Paramount "fix" her or will she end up just like her friends?

I liked the idea of the story, the place and the time when it took place. However, my opinion only, the books is way too long, too many characters and way too many background stories. I had a very hard time focusing on the book and follow the storyline.

Try this if you have an interest in 1940s Hollywood. Penny enlists Barbara Stanwyck to help her clear her name in the murder of her friend Rosemary. There's a lot of cultural references from the time period as well as movie trivia. It's well written but might not appeal to everyone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I received The Glamourous Dead by Suzanna Gates from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a difficult book to read. In all honesty I DNF’d it (which is a once in a blue moon kind of thing for me). I really wanted to like this book too. I loved the cover, I loved the summary, the mystery and the glitz and glam that it promised but I didn’t really get any of that. I’m a huge fan of historical mysteries.

The writing style threw me off. I felt like I got whiplash from how quickly and randomly the direction would change. I felt like there was a lot of information we as readers were expected to already know about these characters and how they live their lives. I understood they were filming and that they were extras but okay.
Penny, who is the narrator, threw me off. I understood the shock value of Rosemary’s death. But there was something extremely off about her. How she acted, how she spoke, how she was in general. The dialogue was written in a way I would have to go back and read sections over again in order to comprehend what I was reading. I normally read in one pass and everything clicks. This was not that.

The thrill factor and mystery failed to hold my interest.

**I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

It’s rare that I don’t finish a book, and given that I received this in exchange for a review, it pains me to not finish. I just can’t go on with this book though. I’ve plodded through 35% of the story and enough is enough.

The characters are leaden, flat, and plain uninteresting. I feel nothing for them and by this point of a novel I should be invested deeply in them. The story itself is plain confusing. Penny is accused of murdering her best friend and yet no one around her seems to care. She continues to live in the same house with all her other roommates and yet none of them care that Rosemary is dead? All they care about is advancing their careers and wearing her clothes? I understand driving ambition but that is a bit much. Also, if the police are so convinced of her guilt why is Penny so calm? Why is she using a divorce attorney for a criminal defense lawyer? I’m not a lawyer but I’m certain one can’t simply cover for the other.

I loved the premise and the cover was reminiscent of The Black Dahlia. I wanted to love this story. Unfortunately the execution was disappointing and will not continue reading this disjointed novel.

As I did not finish the book I would normally withhold a rating, but since NetGalley requires one it will have to be 1 star.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this ARC,

Hollywood will never seem the same to you again. Corruption, back stabbing, and murder plus glamour, love, and freindship.

It’s the golden age of Hollywood, when Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Bette Davis were sharing the silver screen. Every young woman dreams of becoming the next big star and many will do anything to succeed. When a thumb is found near a nightclub, it’s identified as belonging to Rosemary by her friend Penny Harp. The rest of Rosemary, an up and coming Hollywood hopeful, is found buried underneath her thumb. Penny can’t believe her friend is gone, but she has bigger problems, because the cops think she killed Rosemary. Cue movie legend Barbara Stanwyck, or Stany, a friend of Penny’s who has the connections and the balls to track down the real killer. Gates has written a story that focuses on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Tinsletown at its zenith. Tremendous fun