In 1946 Los Angeles, at Silver Pacific studios, eighteen-year-old Clara Berg finally gets promoted to apprentice editor. That same evening, instead of celebrating with her crush, screenwriter Gil, she stumbles upon a dead body. At first, the murdered woman appears to be film star Barbara Bannon, but the victim is actually Bannon’s stand-in, Connie Milligan. Although Clara didn’t know Connie, she feels a kinship to her—ambitious young women in the mostly male Hollywood world. When police struggle with the case, Clara does her own investigating, which requires her to remember and come to terms with her childhood in late 1930s Germany. Meanwhile, with the war over, her parents are planning to return to Germany, and they expect her to return with them. Will she have to give up her Hollywood dreams?

Ross has crafted an excellent mystery. Was Bannon the actual target of the murderer? Are there any ghosts in Connie’s past? Gil is an obvious suspect whom Clara doesn’t want to consider. The uncovering of Clara’s own history, and how she struggles to claim her identity as a German-American, comes about when she begins researching German film writer and director Leni Riefenstahl whose time in Hollywood may be linked to the murder. Information about film production and the movies from this era are fun and interesting. Ross’s author notes separate fact from fiction—and I learned a lot! This is marketed as “young adult,” but I see The Silver Blonde appealing to anyone over the age of fourteen.

While an interesting premise, this book is just a mystery set during right after WW2 in Hollywood. I found the WW2 related aspects to be the worst and weakest parts of the book. If you are going to do a historical mystery, at least treat the history accurately.

I am a huge fan of Golden Age Hollywood movies so I picked up this noir tale of an editor in training who finds a movie star’s body in the film vaults. Why was this woman murdered? Who can Clara trust? Is she the only person who can solve this murder case? A lovely historical fiction murder mystery.

This novel is perfect for anyone who loves that old Hollywood/Art Deco vibe, as well as an engaging murder mystery. Clara is a perfect entry character, somewhat naive to the world around her, but also a quick study. I loved the way the novel wove in actual real-world people, and gave Clara a life beyond work as well. I would recommend this for anyone, but especially fans of mysteries and classic film.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and author for an ARC of this book. This story was set in the 1940's. I liked the main character and the mystery. It was really an interesting book. I liked the old Hollywood time period. It was interesting to learn about the people who fled from Hitler's rule and settled in LA. I learned a lot from the author's note, and I was surprised to learn of the American's who at first supported Hitler. Overall, a very interesting mystery. I will be recommending this book to my students.

This book is a fascinating mystery that should appeal to readers young and old. It would make a great selection for book clubs and schools. A great fiction connection to a class focused on pre-World War 2, World War 2, and Film History. The Author's Note gave me chills to read it was so on point. There is also a nice glossary at the end.

The Silver Blonde was a deep dive into the Golden Age of Hollywood that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, it was a slow burn that I'm not sure my students will give the time needed to truly appreciate it.

The Silver Blonde by Elizabeth Ross takes a murder mystery, gives it a nostalgic Hollywood backdrop, entwines some history, and gives it a coat of noir. Net-net, it is great and it totally works. This is young adult fiction that feels grown-up without many of the tropes and stereotypes found in fiction aimed at that age demographic.

It is refreshing to have a grounded heroine. Eighteen-year-old Clara works in the film editing department; it is novel to have a heroine that isn't an aspiring actress in Hollywood. Clara has some serious Nancy Drew-drive and keeps turning over rocks to find answers. There is a hint of romance on the side, but make no mistake, this story is all about the mystery and finding the answers. The historical aspects are gravy.

An appreciated bonus are the notes at the end that provide some of the movies that inspired the author, so readers now have a movie watch list to get their noir-fix. Highly recommended young adult mystery!

This book was okay as a mystery but super interesting as a work of historical fiction. Clara was a plucky, if otherwise bland, protagonist. I was kept intrigued by the setting and did enjoy my time reading this book, though I have some wishes about things that could have been better executed specifically relating to the mystery plot.

In 1946 Hollywood, a film star's stand-in is murdered, and a young female film editor begins an unofficial investigation into the murder's link to a Nazi Pin-Up Girl.

This atmospheric, noir mystery captivates from the first page and will be perfect for college-age book clubs. Teen fans of historical fiction, noir fiction, and/or Old Hollywood will certainly enjoy the book as well, but THE SILVER BLONDE really exists in the mythical "New Adult" niche. All of the characters are 18+, some of them war veterans, struggling to advance their careers in misogynistic workplaces and reevaluating priorities when good career moves will take them away from family. While these themes aren't inaccessible to teens, they will resonate most with 20- and 30-somethings. If you have the ability to buying multiple copies and shelving as both YA and adult, I'd recommend doing so. But even if not, it's an excellent read that will appeal to a broad age range!

The Silver Blonde by Elizabeth Ross is a well-researched historical novel set in the years following World War II in Hollywood’s world of glamor, glitz, and power. Clara Berg is making a life for herself after her family fled Germany in the years before the war. Angry and betrayed, she struggled to find her footing, blaming her parents for the loss of the life she loved. Once she graduated from high school, she landed a job as a vault girl, the first step to earning her place as a film editor and a permanent spot in the world of the films that helped her weather her early days in the US. On the day before she steps into a promotion, she finds a dead body in the film vaults, triggering a studio-wide investigation that will target the man she can’t stop thinking about and jeopardize her own future. If Clara could leave the crime behind her, her life could still bloom into the one she wants, but the crime, its victim, and the shreds and scraps she is piecing together won’t let her move on. With each new discovery, however, her future and her life are threatened, and her strength and persistence are her only allies.
Ross’s characters are vivid and real, rounded with flaws and strengths, backstories and complexities. Each one is distinct and authentic whether hero or villain, and their “real-ness” lends the story suspense and intensity.
The plot is well-paced, interrupting the passages of intense action with quieter passages of background, romance, or friendship. Ross plants just enough information to make readers question everyone, even the characters they have grown to trust. As the story progresses, it is truly hard to put down, and each chapter adds to the rising stakes for Clara.
Ross leaves very few loose threads, and those that are left do not weaken the story. Some of Clara’s memories of Germany seem disjointed or unconnected to her development or to the story. Her friendships with a family of Hitler’s supporters seems to have deeply affected her, but the story doesn’t explain how or why. Similarly, she recalls shunning a Jewish friend in Germany, and her remorse is deep and understandable, but the story doesn’t absorb that memory or use it as Clara develops as a character. These underdeveloped ideas do not lessen the story’s tension or outcome, a sure sign that Ross’s plot is tightly crafted and her characters are genuine and believable.
The Silver Blonde will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction, the films of the 1930’s and 40’s, or a richly schemed murder mystery.

The Silvered Blonde's greatest strength is its time period and setting. I loved reading a good mystery that felt rooted in its time period and not just happened to be set during post WW2 times. The noir feel of this stylized, Hollywood mystery makes the book a true page turner for me.