LOVED THE HOLLYWWOD SETTING, BUT WASN'T CAPTURED BY THE MYSTERY

I absolutely love Golden Age Hollywood and binge watch all the old movies, so that was definitely the thing that first spoke to me about this book. I really liked the setting and seeing of the old stars - such as Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney - figuring as characters certainly helped the matter. The characters were also quite interesting. They are a group of snide, sarcastic and self-deprecating friends, who find themselves caught up in a murder. However, the central piece - the murder mystery - did not really manage to capture my attention. I was never really invested in the mystery or Annie's attempts at solving it.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is set in old Hollywood, and follows Annie, a writer, as she struggles to solve a murder within her new friend group. When her polyamorous relationship splits so the married couple can move to the west coast and become movie stars, Annie goes down a spiral of self-loathing and depression. An offer to come write for movies has her moving to the west coast as well, where she gets in with a new friend group and gets friendly with the most ruthless reviewer in town.

When that reviewer dies from a poisoned drink, the police assume it was a suicide, but Annie knows better. She investigates the crime herself, eventually bringing her and her friends under suspicion for the murder. In her search for the truth, Annie just might put herself right in the killer's path.

I gave Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen a four star rating because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend, but I wouldn't read it again. There are a lot of things I enjoyed about this story, including the setting, queer representation, and characters. I thought each character was nuanced and believable, which lent a sense of realism to the entire piece.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

Sarah James, you have written what will very likely end up being my favorite book of the year. It really has everything you could want from à book, mystery, non experienced crime solvers, betrayal, large consumption of alcohol, a cast of old Hollywood outsiders, and romance.

If you want to read something fun and unique, you found it with Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen.

This was a wildly entertaining historical mystery. With characters that are fresh and unexpected and snappy dialogue, this one is quickly paced with plenty of suspects. The drama of old Hollywood, and the sneaky ways of the studio system are also present. Very enjoyable to read and I thought the mystery was solidly crafted.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating look into the Hollywood studio system in the 1940s, with a cast reminiscent in some ways of the Algonquin Round Table, although there were some very stark stereotypes among them in this iteration. To make things interesting, there's a murder mystery thrown in, and the seamy side of the film business certainly comes through as well. I had no idea the Hollywood Canteen was a real thing, and the background given by the author at the end of the book was illuminating and not a little disturbing, in that it became clear how much it was (and I'm sure still is in the film business) about centering themselves and disregarding the world outside. The book in total was a tiny bit too long, it could have easily lost 50-75 pages and made for a smoother narrative - but overall well worth the read.

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.

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Such a glittery, fun read! Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is the perfect book to pick up when you're in a slump because this glamorous and wonderfully written thriller is a treat to read! I devoured it in a few days because James' writing is just THAT good

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this well done whodunit. This was a fun read--a glimpse into Hollywood life in the past--a world which I am not at all familiar with. A scriptwriter becomes a sleuth in a whodunit that kept me guessing. The cast of characters was intriguing and I would have liked to know and understand more about them. The main character lived an unconventional lifestyle (but perhaps it was conventional for the people in the book) and I would have liked to see a bit more exploration of that to fill out the whodunit aspect. I also loved the "victim" and I think she was best character of all even though she was killed off early. All, in all, an enjoyable book.

Fun mystery where you can hear the crooning of the 40s current up-and-comer while you're hot on the trail of the murder suspect of the moment. Solid story.

This was the perfect murder/mystery. I loved the old Hollywood setting; it was just perfect. The cast of character was dynamic and their dialogue was on point. This had my attention from beginning to end, which is sometimes hard to do. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful e-arc. 5 stars

After the rapid dissolution of her life in New York City, Annie Laurence takes a job at a movie studio in L.A. as a staff writer. Soon after she meets a group of former New Yorkers at the Hollywood Canteen, one of whom is the theatre and movie critic, Fiona Farris, whose snide remarks may have contributed to Annie's current situation. Annie is invited out for drinks and soon finds she may actually like these people, critic included. But just as soon as things start looking up, Fiona Farris dies. LAPD thinks it is an open and shut case, but as a murder mystery playwright, Annie believes there's more to it.

The writing in this book grabbed my attention immediately and didn't let go. I loved the banter and jokes between the central group of characters. They were all sharp, quick witted, and occasionally insufferable. . . but in a good way? I found them entertaining and while they were deeply flawed, I was rooting for them.

Murder mysteries are so challenging to do right. You need to give the audience enough information that they can make guesses along the way, while also holding enough back to keep the mystery interesting for the entire 300 pages. This book did that so well. I had a thought early on about who the murderer might be, but I was never sure until the reveal.

I don't know how many of you are historical fiction or murder mystery readers, but if any of this sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend it.

In 1943 Hollywood, where stars shine bright and dreams come true, you’ll follow the journey of Annie Laurence, a murder mystery playwright searching for her break in the industry. But when a despised film critic meets an untimely end at the glamorous Hollywood Canteen, Annie is thrust into a real-life mystery that’s more challenging than any script she’s written.

Get ready to meet the captivating and dramatic Ambassador’s Club, a group of celebrity friends with secrets and unique relationships. You’ll fall in love with their intriguing lives and the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood.

Inspired by the real Hollywood Canteen, where enlisted men and women found solace and entertainment during World War II, this book offers a glimpse into a bygone era filled with love affairs, laughter, and a riveting murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Prepare for a rollercoaster of emotions, humor, and a captivating story that’ll transport you to the heart of 1940s Hollywood. “Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen” is a must-read for all book lovers and history enthusiasts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

This was an enjoyable read and for everyone that loves Old Hollywood this one is for you. I will definitely be on alert for what Sarah James writes next!

The year is 1943. After a tough breakup, New York City murder-mystery playwright Annie Laurence moves to Hollywood to write for Pacific Pictures, one of the less successful studios. As part of the war effort, the movie community was entertaining servicemen before they headed overseas at the Hollywood Canteen. Top actors, comedians and musicians performed, and studio employees worked there as volunteers. When it was Pacific night, Annie decided to help out and mingle. She managed to connect herself to an interesting group which dubbed itself the Ambassador's Club, as they would frequently meet, drink, gossip and exchange witticisms and barbs at one another at the Ambassador Hotel. The group was made up of a comedian/radio host with a drinking problem, a musician, a Chinese actress who yearned to be taken seriously but was relegated to being a sex symbol, a female producer and Fiona Farris, top film critic who seemed to hate everything she reviewed. When she is found dead one night at the Canteen, it was first deemed a suicide. But Annie suspects she was murdered. She is determined to uncover what happened. Soon everyone becomes a suspect, including Annie.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this e-arc.*

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

The Hollywood Canteen was a real place. Hollywood’s supposed contribution to the war effort. It was a place of glamour, started by Bette Davis and John Garfield, to give servicemen a night of frivolity before sending them off to fight. The studios each hosted a night. For that night, actors and actresses under contract would attend to entertain.\\

It is in this setting that Annie Laurence, fresh off an unexpected and tragic breakup in New York City, finds herself rubbing elbows with the famous faces. She’s been hired by Pacific Pictures to write movies. Annie ends up befriending a sharp-witted group of stars, critics, and musicians, The Ambassador’s Club.

Her idyllic life with them, swapping one-liners and drinking to excess, takes a turn when one of them is found dead. Apparent suicide. Only as a mystery writer, Annie believes something terrible has happened. So she enlists her new squad of friends to try to help solve it.

The truth about the Hollywood Canteen is rather dark in many ways, so it’s not surprising that a murder mystery would fit right in. The characters are dark in many ways, and Annie finds herself enmeshed in this crazy world where nothing, almost nothing, is really what it seems. I loved it. It was fun, but also sad. I truly enjoyed every page.

An edge of your seat thriller tense chilling,couldn’t put down .Sarah James drew me right in kept my heart racing will be recommending.#netgalley #sourcebooks

A very interesting and suspenseful read. The plot is filled with twists and turns that compels us to keep turning the pages. Both the plot and characters are well-developed. Looking forward to more books by this author.

This historical fiction read blends together fact and mystery to create an engaging story.

Annie is a playwright new to LA after an awful breakup when she is invited to check out the Hollywood Canteen. Studios send actors, writers, and other stars to entertain the servicemen in town during WWII, and Annie is shocked to see Fiona there, the critic who caused her breakup. She makes friends with Fiona’s group, and when Fiona is found dead, the snarky group is forced to investigate further afte the police instantly call it a suicide.

The tone is delightfully snarky at times, with the main friend group full of cynical and mean characters. They constantly rag on one another for their failures without ever celebrating their achievements, making for an odd definition of the word friend. Annie quickly falls into their way of thinking and speaking, and of course suspicion falls on her as the new insider when Fiona dies.

The characters are mostly unlikable, but in the fun gossipy way where you still want to read about them and find out what happens next. The central mystery is solved by the end in a fun and juicy way, and I’m really finding myself loving a historical fic/mystery mashup lately!

The concept of this one was a ton of fun, and I was interested to read the authors note about the true Hollywood Canteen during the war. I had never heard of it before, and it is a fascinating thing to think about. On one hand, it makes the stars seem kind hearted for entertaining the troops, but it really just depends on their actual motivation- are they merely trying to look good, or do they actually care about the service members? The superficiality of Hollywood makes it hard to ever truly know, and makes this story so intriguing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read this book in a day and I never looked back! The twist and the plot were pretty easy to identify but the different POV's kept me intrigued to see how everything was going to unfold. A couple of the characters were so unlikable that it made it hard to feel bad or connect with them in any way. I do wish that the ending would've given a little more, I wanted to know how the characters dealt with the aftermath.

Overall I give this 5 out 5 because it really was a great book and I will definitely read more from this Author. I enjoyed the thrill of the plot and its twists.

*I received a copy of this eARC via NetGalley*

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is a character-driven historical mystery that keeps you on your toes.
It's 1943 and playwright Annie Laurence has a hit murder mystery on Broadway, but after her life falls apart she decides to start fresh in Hollywood, accepting a writing job at Pacific Pictures. Every studio has a volunteer night at the Hollywood Canteen, where servicemen are entertained by Tinseltown's biggest stars before they ship out, and where Annie runs into film critic Fiona Farris. Annie starts to hang out with the Dorothea Parker-like Fiona and her group of friends, the "Ambassador Club", who entertain themselves with booze and witty put-downs. After the Fiona is found dead in the kitchen of the Hollywood Canteen, Annie is the only one who doesn't believe the acerbic critic killed herself and finds herself enlisting the Ambassador Club members to help her discover the motive, method and means. The story is told from Annie's POV and showcases the glamorous and seedy sides of 1940's Hollywood. Chapter one dives you right in and the ride to the end is entertaining, twisty and suspenseful.