Chrissy Dowling is an award-winning impersonator of the legendary Princess Diana and she has a coveted residency even if it is at a second-rate casino off the strip in Las Vegas. The problem is she loves being Diana a little too much, escaping the trauma of her early life growing up in Vermont by escaping from reality by taking on Diana's persona and cadence even if she is not on stage and using diazepam and Adderall to be either on or off - her shallow but peaceful life trundling from cabana to stage to bed and back to her poolside cabana in the morning is starting to crash down around her. One of the bosses of her casino commits suicide (or does he?), her younger sister who looks just like her is moving to town and has adopted a daughter and there are crypto bros sniffing around to buy the casino which could endanger her whole setup.
Her younger sister Betsy also gets her chapters and she is uprooting her whole life burned out working in social work through the pandemic she is ready for a dramatic shift, from Vermont to Vegas, from social work to cryptocurrency and from being alone to being the mom to one of her former charges.
These two sisters are estranged but now they need to find a way to work together and trust each other again.
They need to overcome their traumatic past if they want to help Marisa, the teenager Betsy has adopted, but soon they find themselves in over their heads. With lots of twists and turns, an intriguing plot and fleshed out characters, fabulous Mafia types included, this book definitely kept me reading.
Many thanks to the publisher @doubledaybooks for granting me an earc of this novel via @NetGalley. My review is voluntary and opinions are my own. I loved it so much I bought an actual hardcover copy! I went to the launch event in Burlington Vermont and it was fantastic seeing @chrisbohjalian describe his inspirations and his research work.

The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian has an interesting premise- a Diana impersonator gets caught up in a murder plot in Las Vegas. I enjoyed the idea of this book, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. Parts of it were very slow and others seemed to move along too quickly. There was also a large cast of characters that at times got to be a lot to remember.

Gail Pennington Special to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Same old same old isn’t something you get from Chris Bohjalian. No ruts for this author of 20-plus novels, each unlike the others, all leading somewhere he hasn’t taken us before.

Bohjalian has plunged us into the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown (“Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands”) and sent us on an ill-fated safari in 1960s Africa (“The Lioness”). We have followed along anxiously as a young woman battled persecution in early America (“Hour of the Witch”) and as an air hostess got caught up in murder (“The Flight Attendant,” adapted by HBO).

But common factors in Bohjalian’s books are the women — flawed, quirky and tough to the core — who take the lead in his stories. In “The Princess of Las Vegas,” out March 19, we get two: look-alike sisters who could hardly be more different.

Crissy Dowling, slim and blond and bulimic, is the royalty of the title, a Princess Diana impersonator with a one-woman show at a shabby Vegas hotel-casino called the Buckingham Palace. She is popular and successful, with just a tiny drug habit, but the palace is crumbling around her, with a rumored hostile takeover looming.

Enter Betsy, Crissy’s estranged sister, who surprises her with the less-than-welcome news that she is moving to Las Vegas with her boyfriend, a cryptocurrency mogul of sorts, and her daughter, Marisa, 13 and newly adopted from troubled foster care. Crissy and Betsy butt heads even before Betsy gets a makeover that leaves her looking eerily like Crissy, and thus Diana.

Crissy, Betsy and Marisa (who is a delight) all move the story along, in separate chapters, and things soon go from bad to much worse for everyone. Men around Crissy keep dying by “suicide,” while Betsy, who is far too naïve for Las Vegas, or even her native Vermont, eventually discovers that she’s being manipulated, and that she has put her daughter at risk.

Bohjalian nails the seedy atmosphere of Las Vegas off the Strip, where performers eke out a living impersonating the famous or once famous. At a party for casino investors, Betsy (as Crissy, as Diana) mingles with “Michael Jackson,” “Frank Sinatra” and “a group someone had to tell her was a Herman’s Hermits cover band.”

“Many of the guests were musicians as well as singers, and they’d take any gig they could get, even if it meant playing the piano in a hotel lobby while the arriving hordes in their flip-flops and cargo pants” paid no attention.

But the most riveting part of “The Princess of Las Vegas” doesn’t actually further the plot; it’s a digression in which Crissy vividly recalls the night in 2017 when a shooter with a militia’s worth of weapons leaned out of a upper-floor hotel window killed 58 people at a music festival in Las Vegas. “The next morning,” she recalls, “the area gun stores were packed.”

A major player in the novel is a mysterious company called Futurium, dealing in crypto and fintech (i.e. financial technology) and the corruption of politicians. Maybe you will find that angle fascinating. If not, that’s what skimming is for.

The action piles up at the end of “The Princess of Las Vegas,” and the resolution is very quick and neat, almost an afterthought. But you’re likely to be left thinking, as I was, “Wow, this will be great on HBO.” I wonder who’ll play Marisa?

I really like Chris Bohjalian's writing and this was no exception. Chrissy is a Princess Diana impersonator in Las Vegas. She actually has her own show where she performs as Diana, only she has allowed the Diana persona to take over the rest of her life. Her childhood was rough and she doesn't get along with her sister, Betsy.

Which means... enter Betsy! Betsy is dating a jerk (although she doesn't see it, obviously) and has just adopted a 13-year-old girl. So Betsy, the jerk and the girl all move to Las Vegas. Turns out the jerk is involved in some shady business. Betsy and Chrissy look alike... enough alike that they can be mistaken for each other. It is clear how this is going to go down, but even though it seems predictable, it was so well done that I just wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

If you like constant descriptions of cryptocurrency and Princess Diana, then this is the book for you. For me, this was way too over-the-top to the point that it became very dull. I was extremely uninterested in the whole plot and had to slog my way through to finish.

Chris Bohjalian is one of my favorite authors! I love his writing style and how all of his books are so original. This one was no exception! Crissy works at a Las Vegas casino as a Princess Diana impersonator. All is great until the two casino owners are murdered. Then her estranged sister, Betsy, moves to Vegas with her boyfriend and teenage daughter, and things go from bad to worse. There's Russian mobsters, cryptocurrency, and some family drama, which all made this such a fun read! I also loved the characters, especially Marisa! I liked how we got to hear her thoughts at the beginning of each chapter. This was a page turner with lots of great twists and turns!

Thank you, @netgalley and @doubledaybooks, for the e-arc and the finished copy!

4.5 stars rounded

Former actress Crissy seems to have found her calling as a Princess Diana impersonator at a second-string casino in Las Vegas. When one of the owners unexpectedly kills himself, it seems odd. When his brother does the same a few weeks later, it's odder still.

Meanwhile her former social worker sister, Betsy, has moved from Vermont to an apartment complex a few miles away, bringing with her a teenaged adopted daughter and surprising career change into the world of fintech. Her boyfriend/boss seems sketchy and a little bit too interested in hiring Crissy to impress a colleague with a Princess Diana obsession. When Crissy's new love suffers the same fate as her bosses, she questions everything she believed in--especially her sister's new colleagues.

Chris Bohjalian is an excellent story teller and while the plot seems far-fetched, it works. Crissy and Betsy are both vulnerable, believable characters and the secondary characters, particularly Marisa and Nigel, are engaging as well. Even if the Las Vegas painted by Bohjalian is seedy and corrupt, it still made me want to visit. Go figure. #ThePrincessofLasVegas #NetGalley

Quite frankly, I've loved every one of Bohjalian's books that I've read, so it was a no-brainer to request this one when I saw it was available. In the past, when an author has been so consistently excellent, I still find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for them to deliver a clunker, but it's safe to say that if there IS one among Bohjalian's works, I haven't found it yet, and it CERTAINLY isn't this one. The titular character is Crissy Dowling, the premier Las Vegas Princess Diana impersonator (whose place of employment isn't quite on par with her talents or her title, as it's seedy as all get out), who may or may not be able to always tell the difference between where she ends and where Diana begins. She finds herself - and the Buckingham Palace, the casino where she performs - at the center of mysterious deaths, and the encroaching shadows of the seedier side of Vegas of old - the mob, financial shenanigans, and disappearances; with the additional reappearance in her life of her estranged sister (who has her own questionable connections to the criminal element), this Princess finds herself staring down threats from all sides, and Bohjalian weaves the disparate threads together, as always, into a tapestry of a novel that's worthy of any royal.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
This was an interesting book especially since it felt very different than any other Chris Bohjalian book I have ever read. It was an interesting concept dealing with crypto which is a very current topic on the market. While this was not the only topic of course,.it was interesting to me as I did not have a lot of background but then did some research on my own. In addition, it was quite interesting and unusual for the author to pick the stage character of Lady Diana.. i am sure a lot of research went into the life of people impersonating a celebrity or a royalty and make a living of it.
The 2 sisters were estranged and their reunion was not the easiest, especially when looking back and finding out what happened in the past that maybe the reson why Chrissy does what she does every night.
While this type of setting usually wouldn't interest me, the author made it an interesting and spellbinding read!

Crissy has a great life as the premier Princess Diana impersonator at the Buckingham Palace casino....that is, until people start dying and her sister shows up. Then things go from bad to worse.

At first, I was not enamored of this book. I thought Crissy was shallow and the narrative was bogged down by WAY too much information about Diana. Then it got worse -- Crissy's sister is a social worker who decides to move to Las Vegas following her new boyfriend, an executive in a cryptocurrency corporation. This storyline involved WAY too much information about crypto...and I still find it baffling. Once the plot finally gets around to the "action" and (no surprise) organized crime gets involved, the story finally grabbed me.

I find Chris Bohjalian's books intriguing. They are all very different, yet all are incredible readable. I couldn't stop reading despite my (sometimes) boredom. Once the action kicked in, I could not put this book down. So -- it's definitely a mixed review. If you're an anglophile and are still fascinated by Princess Diana, this book should appeal to you. If you understand cryptocurrency or don't mind ignoring the baffling technospeak, this is also a suspenseful action novel. I'm glad I read it, but it won't make my top 10.

PS -- my favorite character was Betsy's adopted teenage daughter. She's irreverent, resilient, entertaining, and has more personality than anyone else in the book.

Las Vegas is a city of dreams, money, fame, and organized crime. Here Bohjalian combines these elements into a potentially dead brew. Crissy Dowling is here for the dream and some modicum of fame and fortune. She has the talent and looks to headline a Princess Di revue in an off Strip fading casino. She may never make the big time, but for now it’s enough until mobsters come calling. Meanwhile, Crissy’s sister Betsy is in Vermont. When an opportunity calls, she readily leaves her job, home, and car behind, taking only her newly adopted teen, Marisa. Betsy thinks a new start, a new job and her new family is the way to fulfill dreams and money. Fame isn’t a concern. Then, crime comes calling for her, too. To beat the odds, the frequently fractious sisters need to find a way to trust and work together.

Bohjalian introduces the reader to the world of crypto currency, foreign money players, crooked politicians, Vegas showbiz and businessmen. It takes a while for the story to get rolling, then bizarre plot twists take over. A bit too much on the crypto currency strand but a satisfying beach read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

I went into this blindly knowing only that it involved two of my favorites: Las Vegas & Princess Di…I was not expecting what would unfold.
Crissy is a renowned Princess Diana impersonator in a musical cabaret show on the Las Vegas Strip…at a casino aptly named Buckingham Palace. Over the years, she’s adopted a posh British accent fitting of Diana, and cut her hair into the short, feathered ‘do the late Princess was known for. When her estranged sister Betsy visits, joined by a new boyfriend and recently adopted teen daughter, things quickly take a dangerous turn, as the women find themselves caught up in a world of murder, cryptocurrency, and organized crime.
I really wanted to like this but the cryptocurrency organized crime felt so out of nowhere and it was hard to get into the story. I also struggled with the long section where she describes the Las Vegas shooting. As someone who lived there during that time & remembers the city’s tragedy, it just felt oddly placed and didn’t feel genuine…especially with how long the description went on, with nothing to do with the story.
Thank you to Doubleday Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Readers looking for an entertaining, contemporary fiction book that keeps their attention from page one through to the very end need to read The Princess of Las Vegas. Despite the fact that there are quite a few characters, I found it easy to keep track of who everybody is since each character has a very specific role in the plot. No need to make one of those dreaded family tree charts for this novel. Although just like real-life family trees, no one in this latest Bohjalian novel is unrealistically perfect; these pages contain characters with a variety of flaws and some less-than-perfect behavior. All of the characters have struggles, whether it's struggling to make ends meet, to cheating one's way to wealth, to overcoming political scandals, to surviving a foster-care system. Set the action in the famous 24-hour-city of Las Vegas, Nevada, and you have a page-turner that you hate to see end.

There are a couple of story lines that merge together in this book. There is attractive, model-thin Crissy Dowling who is "the Princess Diana" impersonator or rather as said in Vegas a tribute show entertainer. She has lots of fans and lots of concoctions that help her to not think about all the things that have been wrong in the past and that might go wrong in the future. There are mob-type guys, politicians behaving badly, along with casino wheeling and dealing as well as family drama; it all can seem like it is lifted right out of some newspaper headlines. That makes the action all the more fun. I am surprised, however, that no one double checked the name of the Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas; I think there is a Red Rocks (with an S) in another state, but in Las Vegas, it is Red Rock Canyon.

Chris Bohjalian has been one of my auto-buy authors for quite a long time. I can hardly wait until this book publishes to give it as gifts to friends.

It took me awhile to get to "Princess of Las Vegas" but I'm glad I sat down with it because it is an excellent read. Don't be put off by the cryptocurrency plot line--for most people it is incomprehensible but Chris Bohjalian gives just enough explanation to give make the story pop. He also explores an unusual aspect of Las Vegas that is fun to explore. So, what's it about?

Crissy Dowling channels Princess Diana ten times a week in her one-woman cabaret "Diana--Candle in the Darkness." She does a great show, always sold out even though she is at one of the off-strip hotels. She's happy there because she has a private suite and a pool cabana, and she's given the flexibility to adapt and update her show with no intervention from management. Her younger sister, Betsy, also has the Diana look, but she is a social worker in their home state of Vermont. Crissy is gobsmacked when she receives word that Betsy and a newly-adopted teen daughter are moving to Vegas to work with a new crypto company. Crissy's world tilts, especially when we learn that the sisters are estranged because Crissy believes Betsy killed their mother.

There are lots of strange doings around the time of Betsy's arrival--the death of both owners of Crissy's hotel (the Buckinghan Palace, which explains how they were open to her gig.) Betsy arrives with a man involved with the crypto start up whose colleagues all carry guns. Not only do they carry guns, they ask Crissy to perform at a "private" club and are not pleased when she says no. There's no wasted space in this novel, which clips on powered by the compelling sisters, their strange situation, and Marisa, the adopted thirteen year old with a tarty taste in clothes and an instinctive knowledge of math. The denoument is surprising and makes perfect sense, and the road there is satisfyingly twisty.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of this novel, which I throughly enjoyed. All opinions are my own.

I’m not giving a rating because I did not finish this one. I have only recently come out of a long reading slump and I wasn’t about to let this put me back into it. It takes quite a bit for me to not finish a book; but, it was just so boring to me. I really enjoy both Vegas (was married there very recently) and things revolving around the royal family, but this just did nothing for me. I made it to 60% and nothing has happened, so I assumed nothing was going to happen.

Here's another riveting thriller from Bohjalian!
Set among the glitz and gaudiness of Las Vegas, the plot follows the journey of Crissy, the alluring protagonist of the story. The character development of those other players in seedy Vegas kept me guessing as to whose story was the most compelling.
The suspense is so thick, and each chapter keeps you guessing as to what comes next. The tension is quite noticeable as Chrissy and her cohorts navigate the sordid dynamics of the underworld.
What was especially interesting was Chrissy's line of work. She impersonated Princess Di in her show. The mere concept of immersing yourself in another person's life is daunting and a bit unnerving. Yet, the author did such an unbelievable job relating what it takes to be successful at such an undertaking, I was able to grasp what it takes.
It also offered intuition into the human nature. The themes of allegiance, loyalty and duplicity are all examined. If you enjoy fast-paced, absorbing mysteries, this is a must-read.

I have read a few Chris Bohjalian books and I am thinking this might be just a "me opinion" with this author. After reading The Lioness (my fav of the bunch so far), The Flight Attendant, and now The Princess of Las Vegas - I find that I enjoy these books, the writing, and the overall book. But something is always keeping me from LOVING his books and I can't put my finger on exactly what it is.

With The Princess of Las Vegas - I really enjoyed the premise, the mystery and thrills, and as someone who has lived in Las Vegas for 18 years now, loved the setting of Las Vegas! I really enjoyed the fractured and messy family dynamics between the two sisters and the behind the scenes of the Princess Diana impersonator show and being a kind of celebrity in the Vegas impersonator world.

But then the crypto currency and mob storyline sometimes interrupted what I liked about this story. Also, the ending felt slightly rushed and wrapped up quickly, in my opinion.

And this I am SURE is a me problem from living in Las Vegas for so long - but as a local, it REALLY bugged me that they kept referencing RED ROCKS throughout the book. This was an important setting within the book where some crucial plot points took place and they kept referring to it as RED ROCKS. That is not what we call it out here - it's RED ROCK (Red Rocks is in Colorado). It's a little thing that just drove me crazy every tine I saw it. So for me, this kept taking me out of the story but again I am sure that didn't stand out to anyone else.

Overall, this was an entertaining read and I would recommend it for sure. I read it quickly and will continue to check out his books but not necessarily make them a priority.

Thank you to Netgalley & Doubleday Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this one was going to be a winner for the first 50 pages but it fell a bit off the deep end for me and wound up just ok. Way too much on the cryptocurrency topic for my liking and I admit skimming many parts. If Princess Diana, Vegas, mobs and crypto are your thing, you will likely enjoy it more than I did. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday books for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion, The Princess of Las Vegas is now available.

This book has a great premise and an interesting trio of protagonists, and I loved the Diana impersonator angle and how it was woven into the story.

Bohjalian always writes intriguing (if not always lovable) protagonists, and these three (or at least two of them) are even more endearing than most. The book is an interesting examination of both the desire to make one’s own way in the world and the long-standing pressures of family dynamics, and it’s also a compelling peek into some of the subsets of. Industry that exist in Las Vegas.

The central mystery, unfortunately, isn’t great. All the crypto stuff feels tired and dull, and the clumsy actions and narrations for the villains felt beneath Bohjalian’s chops as a writer. I would also have loved a more lush sense of place, though I consider that a lesser quibble.

Three stars is usually about where I land with Bohjalian. The premise is always really compelling, the execution…less so, if acceptable enough that I’m always willing to try another.

I typically have little to no interest in crime thrillers, but in the gifted hands of author Chris Bohjalian, even a story about organized crime, cryptocurrency, and Vegas managed to pull me in and not let go. The central character -- a Princess Diana impersonator doing nightly shows at a seedy casino -- is fascinating and offbeat, and even while she makes terrible choices, she's someone to root for. The crime elements were less interesting to me than the characters studies, but the overall book is absorbing and impossible to put down.