This is a unique mystery and is a must read for anyone that loves old movies and the old Hollywood stars. The characters were interesting and the mystery kept me intrigued and turning the page. I loved it as a one time story, I don't know that I would like it as a series, but. It is very well written and I enjoyed it.

Justine Turner is writing a biography about one of the “Golden Age” actresses, Jean Harlow and Charlotte Donovan, an aspiring author herself, is her research assistant.
When Justine is killed, Charlotte is commissioned to complete the book. But, she also wants to find out who killed Justine.
Charlotte’s research of Jean Harlow gives more insight to the glamour days of early Hollywood, but also puts Charlotte in danger.
I enjoyed this book as it has colorful characters, a little romance and a touch of history. Even the notes by the Author, Molly Cox Bryan at the end of the book are an excellent addition to the mystery.
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley for my honest review.

If you are a fan of Mollie Cox Bryan, you will love this book! It is edgier than her cozy mysteries but will entertain you and keep you on the edge of your sest

I went into this book expecting some mystery involving Jean Harlow and while the book centers around Jean Harlow most of the mystery doesnt involve her at all. The story is done ok, I enjoyed the parts about Jean and her life and history. I found the mystery itself to be quite predictable and the closure of the mystery I think it wrapped up too nicely. I think that there should have been less focus on the cousin of Justine Turner, unless she was going to become an integral part of the story line or any future books.

Some of the characters were better developed, and some you know nothing about. I feel like I am probably going to be in the minority when it comes to this book. But over all it was just ok. I also find that there were some inaccuracies in terminology that was used when discussing the disease Charlotte's mother had.

The book flowed fairly well, the content was run of the mill, which is why I gave it a 3 star rating.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell by Mollie Cox Bryan is a definite page turner.

Charlotte Donovan is an aspiring author, currently an assistant to the world famous, celebrity biographer Justine Turner. When she requests an emergency meeting Charlotte shows up at the well know tea room. Before Justine is able to explain what is going on she ends up dead.
Charlotte fashions herself to be a sleuth and decides she must discover what happened to her boss. She moves into Justine apartment and at the same time some vary strange things begin to happen.

Written in a modern times, this book has an old times feeling. Glitz and glamour of old days give it a special and different feel.
I especially liked the warm and loving relationship between main character and her best friend and her grandmother. I also found it refreshing that she openly writes about alcoholic mother and issues with Lyme disease.
Mystery is well written and engaging.
Completely refreshing and unlike other books of the same genre..

The Jean Harlow Bombshell by Mollie Cox Bryan is the 1st book in a Classic Star Biography Mystery series, and it's off to a great start. Charlotte Donovan is the assistant to famous biographer, Justine Turner. When Justine dies suddenly, Charlotte is determined to find out who killed her. Does it have something to do with the book she has been writing about Jean Harlow? I really like this book, it keep me interest from the start. I learned a lot about Jean Harlow that I didn't know, and Charlotte has Lyme disease, which was also interesting. I recommend this book for all mystery lovers.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Midnight Ink. Thank you.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell by Mollie Cox Bryan is an awesome read.
This novel is part Historical Fiction- part mystery/thriller.
It centers around an imperfect female sleuth, Charlotte Donovan, and a mystery/murder surrounding the “Old Hollywood” actress Jean Harlow.

I love the different nuances and facets of the main character, as well as her supporting cast of family, friends, and others ( I can’t add any more as I could give away the plot).

I enjoyed the complexity of the case and it kept me engaged throughout.

I have always been a fan of Mollie Cox Bryan and I continue to look forward to more from her in this series.

5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced read and in return my unbiased review that is of my thoughts and opinions alone.

Kindle Copy for Review from Net Galley and Midnight Ink.

I received an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A famous biographer sudden dies while writing about the famous actress Jean Harlow. Her assistant is tasked to complete the book but things do not go smoothly.

She ends up being stalk online and in person by a Jean Harlow look alike. Things get out of control as she uncover secrets of the famous actress that someone does not want the public to know. Can she figure the killer before she ends up being the next victim?

This takes you back to the golden age of Hollywood where starlets rule. An enjoyable mystery story.

http://uniquecsblog.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-jean-harlow-bombshell-classic-star.htm

The Jean Harlow Bombshell is an entertaining mystery with an unusual protagonist (I've never encountered one before who suffers from Lyme disease). She's intelligent, forthright, and comfortable in her own body and with her own sexuality. I also learned a heck of a lot about Jean Harlow.

Unfortunately, the advance digital copy was *very* badly formatted. There were breaks in the middle of sentences, paragraphs ran together, and there were no scene breaks (such as a line of asterisks). There were also very strange chapter breaks, sometimes in the middle of a scene, with no apparent reason for them. The formatting was so bad that I started skipping and only read the relevant bits until I finally reached the end. I'm afraid that biased my opinion of the book as a whole.

(Also, I see that the ebook edition is listed at $11.99. That is a *lot* for an ebook.)

Overall, this is a fun mystery, but it needs a good polish.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell is the first in a series about a celebrity biographer, Charlotte Donovan, who takes over her boss Justine's latest project -- a biography on 1930s film star Jean Harlow -- when Justine suddenly drops dead in a cafe in chapter one. Before she dies, Justine tells Charlotte that several people have been harassing her about the manuscript, and Charlotte soon finds herself having to fend these people off. Worse, Charlotte also seems to be stalked by a woman who looks very much like Jean Harlow, and she has to figure out what's going on and keep herself safe, all while finishing Justine's manuscript in time.

I love cozy mysteries, and I find 1920s / 1930s Hollywood glamour totally fascinating. I hadn't realized Jean Harlow was a real person until I googled her about halfway through this book, and I love that the author chose to focus on a lesser known star. Jean Harlow also died pretty suddenly, and had some tragic twists in her life, all of which makes for rich possibilities for a mystery. I like that Charlotte wants to distinguish herself from Justine by delving a bit deeper into the 'reality' of her subject rather than simply repackaging the known stories -- apart from helping drive the plot (it leads to Charlotte digging deeper into potentially dangerous territory), this is also a nice reminder of the humanity behind the glitz and glamour of the celebrities being discussed.

The mystery is good and moves forward at a nice, quick pace. I love the team up of Charlotte and Kate, how strong their friendship seems, and how well they work together to uncover the various clues. I also like how nerdy some of the investigation became, with a lot of focus on the research needed to learn about a long-dead celebrity's life.

The book also delves a bit into Charlotte having Lyme disease. I hadn't realized before that Lyme disease could be chronic, and while I'd heard of it, I didn't really know what the symptoms were. So I really liked how the author incorporated it into the story and showed us the various ways in which it affected Charlotte's daily life, without ever treating her as an invalid because of it.

I enjoyed this mystery, and I look forward to reading more of the series. As a side note, it turns out the author was inspired to write this because she is related to Jean Harlow. How awesome is that?!

+

Thank you to the author for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

***The online review will go live on May 6th, 2019, at 8 am ET.***

The mystery follows Charlotte Donovan who is an assistant to a world famous biographer Justine Turner. Charlotte wants to be a writer and when her boss is murdered before she is to have an emergency meeting with her she decides she is going to finish the current biography she was working on. Charlotte begins to feel like she is being watched and several odd characters come out of the woodwork. She also suffers from Lyme disease which is an interesting twist but I think it was overstated a bit. As readers we can remember this. If you like old movies and movie stars this is appealing. Good solid mystery and would definitely read the next installment in this series. Solid book and mystery.

I always look out for books by Mollie Cox Bryan as they are so well written.
I loved this new book , the storyline,the characters and Genre.
A great new book to read really enjoyable .
I would definitely recommend this book.
Many thanks to midnight ink and Nettgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

A fast paced, entertaining, and enjoyable book that I read in one setting.
I loved everything in this book, from the plot to the cast of characters.
It was the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Many thanks to Midnight Ink and Netgalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine.

Despite hints of antiquated views on how women lust, and stereotypes about transgender people this is really good fun - the assistant of a biographer picks up the book writing and that writer's life when she is poisoned. The gorgeous Den, the cop investigating, nearly always takes her breath away as he delves into the backgrounds. Best friend Kate is a transgender person (with not much more personality than simply that with usual comment about dress and feistiness), but we care what happened to biographer Justine, and the solution is pretty mind-blowing but all in the tradition of Hollywood make believe with fierce villains and pressing deadlines to finish the book - a fairy tale ending! But there are dead bodies, and fierce criminals involved all the same. Great entertainment.

Wow, a great new unique mystery that was flawless. I can't wait for more from this author. I was impressed and surprised by this novel.

I love Mollie Cox Bryan. This is a total change of pace for her and I think she did a great job. I am looking forward to more books from her like this.

Charlotte Donovan is a ghost writing assistant to the world-famous biographer to the stars, Justine Turner. When Justine drops dead in front of Charlotte after saying she has emergency information, the whole world seems to turn upside down. Now seemingly jobless and desperate to keep her life together, she just wants justice to be served and the biography of Jean Harlow that Justine was in the middle of to be completed.  However, life isn't that simple. Soon Charlotte is finding herself in danger over a missing Harlow ring, falling for a cop, dealing with her Lyme disease, and trying to find out why a drop-dead Jean Harlow look-alike is following her.  It's all a day in the life of the best writing assistant in the world in The Jean Harlow Bombshell.

Mollie Cox Bryan has composed one of the most fun mystery novels I've had the pleasure to read this year. Her story was fast-paced, entertaining, and had just a touch of classic Golden Era Hollywood drama to keep this reader's interest. At first I was a bit perplexed that she had chosen to have a main character suffering from Lyme disease, but I ended up loving the fact that she wrote an amazing plucky heroine who suffered from chronic illness. Charlotte's best friend is trans, but it's only briefly discussed later in the book and her friend is treated like (gasp) a real person the whole book and not a trope. Representation for trans folks and those with chronic illness without making it a long suffering drawn out situation where that person ends up dying horribly? Well done.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell is a delightful whodunit that doesn't leave the reader feeling like everything is terrible with this world, and it was just what I needed.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell by Mollie Cox Bryan is available May 8, 2019 from Midnight Inc. I can't wait for the next in the series.

First in a new series

Charlotte Donovan wants to be a writer. She's spent years as assistant to Justine Turner, world -famous biographer of the stars of yesteryear. Justine is eccentric and secretive so when she calls Charlotte and asks her to meet to discuss an emergency with her work in progress, a biography of Jean Harlow, Charlotte is surprised.

Unfortunately before she can tell Charlotte exactly what is going on she is dead. Right there at the booth. Did someone just murder her boss in broad daylight? It looks that way. Moving into Justine's apartment to try to finish the book before the deadline, Charlotte feels like she is being watched. Followed by a woman who looks exactly like Jean Harlow.

When people start coming out of the woodwork looking for the famous Harlow ring, Charlotte may be next on the list of dead writers.

Charlotte is an interesting character. She suffers from Lyme Disease and sees herself as an amateur sleuth. She pushes herself and there is a lot of mystery surrounding her father and her obsession with hot cops. On one hand I thought she was a bit too sickly to be running all over town trying to find a killer. On the other I was wondering about her odd sex life. It just didn't seem to fit with her character.

This one left me with more questions than answers to be honest. I'm sure once the editing is complete the story will come together

Netgalley/Midnight Ink

The Jean Harlow Bombshell is a very good first installment in what looks like an interesting series. Charlotte is an assistant to a famous author of celebrity bios. When the author is murdered suspicion moves quickly to many "kooks" who are stirred up by the work in progress which Charlotte is working to finish - a Biography on Jean Harlow.

The writing is excellent. From the first pages I was taken in by the writer's style and it quickly became a page turner. What was lacking a bit for me was the plotting. At some point in the latter half it bogged down a bit, and I felt that the writer was merely upping a page count. The conclusion was good, but ultimately not in line with the journey that it took to get there. Some further editing would have smoothed the story out a bit. For instance the main character has Lyme Disease and this is mentioned ad nauseaum in the first 24 chapters. I wanted to scream "okay...I get it!"

Regardless of my negative thoughts, I was all in all satisfied with this work; enough so that I look forward to the next installment!

This was a really interesting mix of pure crime fiction and a literary love letter. The actual set up to the murder and the way the characters were built up was done very well. I liked the style of writing as it was really engrossing and I flew through the book needing to know what happened next. I'm not sure if I would continue with this if it was a series but as a one off, it was a fun and easy read.