A must read for all you True Crime Fans! The narrative is like being in class with the most passionate history teacher ever, who is making history come alive for you. The author gives you an engaging and exciting look into the fascination of celebrity downfalls.
The story is about the life of famous actress Lana Turner and the murder of her love interest. It shows how the choices her parents made while Lana was young had a profound impact on the adult she became. The story tells us what happened, why it happened and leaves us with the question of does this stuff still happen today?
I loved the look into what was happening backstage in Hollywood years ago. The one thing I struggled with was all the characters introduced throughout the book. I had a hard time remembering the significance of some. I understand why the author included them; I just think some of them could have been left out.
The bottom line is that this is a must read for everyone. It has everything that you could be looking for in a book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the gifted ARC. All opinions are my own.

Sherman does a great job researching (the last quarter of the book is all the footnotes) and writing about the rise of Lana Turner to stardom, her rocky early and adult life, and finally gaining control after the murder of her then lover and mobster. This is a kinda Hollywood tell all and kinda a LA mob tell all. It is fascinating. I wish there had been more pictures, especially of Turner, her family, and Stompanato.

This author amazingling tells us the story of Lana Turney’s life. She’s married so many times.
This story goes over ties with the mob, abuse she endured, and Lana Murdering Johnny Stampantato.
I LOVED this book. I am a big true crime fan. Thank you for letting me read this early!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This was a fantastic thriller in a non-fiction package, with imaginings of certain elements of Lana Turner's life included where reality could simply not reflect the precise feelings of the situations. Her life was certainly a fascinating study for a book, and I found a lot of value in the approach of the author to this story.

It isn't often that a non-fiction piece is so well paced and written, but this book certainly delivers on that brief. I do think there could have been a little bit of extra information on the mob facet of the story, and I do wish that it had continued further than where it stopped regarding Lana Turner. It would have been good for a little more information to come after the culmination of the hardships that she faced, but at the same time, I understand why it didn't continue beyond the golden years of Hollywood.

I do think as well that the title could perhaps pack a little more punch - I went into this expecting a multitude of stories, and was quite happy with what it turned out to be, but just would have loved to have had the title pack a little more punch. All in all though, this was a great book with punchy pacing and I would not hesitate to pick up another title from Sherman.

Although I was only ten years old at the time of the crime, I vividly remember the shocking death of Lana Turner’s boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, and how Lana’s daughter Cheryl Crane was charged with the murder. Casey Sherman’s book A Murder in Hollywood is subtitled “the untold story of Tinseltown’s most shocking crime,” and purports to tell the real story about the event: that Lana stabbed Johnny then Cheryl took the rap because, had Lana been charged, she would possibly have gotten the death penalty.

The story is complicated before the murder: it includes extensive details about Lana’s rise to stardom, the studio system, the rise of Las Vegas as an entertainment center, and lots of crime and gangsters, including Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel in addition to Stompanato. While it is categorized as true crime, there has been a lot of criticism about the author taking liberties with the facts in order to tell the story, which is just that: a STORY.

So, did Lana kill Johnny? Or did Cheryl? Before reading this, I wondered. After reading it, I was fairly convinced that Lana did it. Now, after thinking about it, I have no idea, but I was seriously entertained by Mr Sherman’s latest book. Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review. Four stars.

Casey Sherman has done a fabulous job researching and weaving the tale about Lana Turner's life and the death of Johnny Stompanato, a close associate of the West Coast mob, Mickey Cohen. Lana's entire life, from childhood through adulthood, is marred with tragedy, bad relationships, domestic abuse, and misogyny. Lana's fourteen year old daughter takes the blame for stabbing Stompanato.

Fascinating story about Hollywood, actors, actresses, and the mob.

1950s Hollywood true crime book dealing with Lana Turner, her Daughter Cheryl and the murder of Lana's Boyfriend mobster Johnny Stompanato. Thos was so good! All true crime fans will devour this book!
I just reviewed A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman. #NetGalley
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I recently read Casey Sherman’s Helltown and was disappointed that he blended true crime with fiction to make a serial killer appear more impressive. I didn’t see anything in the description that “A Murder in Hollywood” followed the same path so I dived in with higher expectations. I’ve seen a number of Lana Turner’s movies, but I didn’t know much about her personal life and I know even less about organized crime during the golden age of Hollywood. Casey Sherman’s book is written with ease. The chapters are short and he keeps the book on track alternating between Lana Turner and gangster Micheal Cohen. Sherman weaves Hollywood glamour with the underworld of 1950s gangsters to give the reader a full picture of the times. It’s easy to get hooked and find yourself unable to stop reading.

No one in this book is likable and Sherman doesn’t make any excuses for their behavior. The book dives into the underworld as it was run by Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. It details Lana Turner’s rise to fame, her many failed marriages and how she became involved with Mickey Cohen’s sidekick, Johnny Stompanato. It all ends with Stompanato dead in Lana Turner’s bedroom. I was unfamiliar with this crime so towards the end of the book I looked online to see pictures of Lana Turner testifying in court. That’s when I realized that once again Sherman weaved fiction so seamlessly into the book. It was Lana Turner’s daughter Cheryl who was charged with killing Stompanato. The depiction of Stompanato’s death in the book is built by a conspiracy theory that Lana had actually been the one to kill him and her daughter took the blame. Cheryl has denied that Lana had anything to do it throughout her life. Yet, Sherman writes like his version is the truth, as if he was in the room when it happened. It makes him an untrustworthy narrator for me because he doesn’t tell the reader what he’s written is conjecture. While I found the book captivating, I’d rather watch it play out in the tv series that’s being developed. At least there I won’t feel duped and mislead because everything is changed for tv.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just didn’t love this book to be honest. I felt like it was lacking something, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what that was. In a way, I felt like I was reading a research paper. I understand that the information needs to be accurate and the sources need to be cited and I appreciate that, but to me it almost felt like facts were copied and pasted more than a story was told. Overall, it was just kind of boring. Thankfully, I had never heard of Lana Turner or heard her story so it was slightly interesting to me just because it was all new information to me. However, I feel like it you read this already knowing the story, you would be pretty bored as there aren’t a ton of additional details.

Brilliantly executed! I was peripherally aware of the scandal surrounding the Stompanato murder, but never delved too deep into it. Casey does a fabulous job of explaining events and laying them out in a cohesive manner, even though he switches perspectives within the book. Absolutely a must read for anyone who loves old Hollywood

This was an interesting book. I knew about Lana Turner, but knew absolutely nothing about her life, and the fact that she dated a mobster. Neither did I know about this murder before reading this book. This tale is both fascinating and tragic.

Thoroughly enjoyed the "ins and outs" of this Hollywood expose. So much information on Lana Turner and the sadness and misfortunes of her life. She could give Judy Garland a run for her money in the sadness of their Hollywood life.

This is the story of the 1958 murder of mobster Johnny Stompanato at the home of blonde screen goddess Lana Turner. But before the murder, the book follows the story of Lana’s life to that fateful night, and the separate path of Stompanato and his mentor, mafia kingpin Mickey Cohen.

Lana Turner was legendarily discovered as a 15-year-old high schooler when she was spotted by the editor of the Hollywood Reporter having a soda at a diner across the street from her high school. Soon she was in the pictures, becoming an iconic movie star. This was quite a change from her tough upbringing, with her father having been murdered when she was little and her mother having difficulty supporting them.

Both Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato also had modest roots. But Cohen was always ambitious and combative, and rose within the mafia ranks to be a top man in Los Angeles. Stompanato, a handsome veteran and would-be lothario, became one of Cohen’s closest men. According to Sherman, one of Cohen and Stompanato’s money-making schemes was for Stompanato to romance stars and then to photograph them in compromising positions so that Cohen could blackmail them.

Lana Turner had terrible taste in men and she was involved with and often married abusive men. Stompanato was another. He told her his name was John Steele and his family was in the tobacco business, and he love-bombed her relentlessly. But he showed his true colors soon enough, verbally and physically abusing Turner and threatening her if she tried to break it off. The murder came after yet another argument.

The story told by Turner and her teenage daughter, Cheryl Crane, is that Stompanato was yelling at Turner and threatening her. Cheryl got an 8-inch knife from the kitchen and ended up stabbing him in the abdomen, killing him. As did some at the time, Sherman believes that Turner killed Stompanato and in the two hours that her lawyer and a crooked cop had before the police were called, a plan was devised to say that Cheryl did it because her juvenile status would save her, whereas Turner would likely have been tried for capital murder.

Although Sherman has loads of citations for much in the book, they are scanty when it comes to the night of the murder. He never makes a cogent, detailed case for his conclusion. What’s more, he includes many statements he couldn’t possibly know, such as what was in the minds of Stompanato and Cohen. That makes me dubious about the book as a true crime work of nonfiction.

For me, a valuable part of the book is its treatment of the commonplace abuse of women in that time and place, and how American attitudes in the 1950s affected how Turner lived her life. She married so many of those awful men because women who didn’t marry their beaux were considered immoral, and of course being considered immoral would risk her livelihood. With only one exception, she didn’t tell the studios or call the police when men beat her or even abused her daughter, because she felt that she would not be believed and would end up being blamed, with the men suffering no consequences. (And the Me Too movement would suggest that the needle has moved only incrementally there.) The book also reveals the appalling treatment of Cheryl Crane by the police and justice system at that time. While I have my doubts about Sherman’s take on the murder, I found the book’s recounting of Turner’s life intersecting with organized crime compelling, along with the issues of the social mores of that time and place.

The story of Lana Turner and the murder of her boyfriend by her daughter has always fascinated me. I loved Lana Turner in Peyton Place, so when I grew up and learned of tragedy of her life, I was hooked.

Casey Sherman's "A Murder in Hollywood" takes this true crime and turns it into a fascinating historical fiction story.

Combining the glamour of Hollywood and the gritty underworld of the mafia, this story brings to life the murder of Johnny Stompanato and what happens when a woman has had enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a riveting read and tells the story of Lana Turner's turbulent life. She was married many times and never for love, it seems. There are explanations of the many ties to mobsters. I found the machinations of Hollywood during this time fascinating.

The one thing I don't get, and maybe it's because I rarely read true crime, is Sherman's description of how Lana Turner murderd Johnny Stampanato. While it certainly seems possible, I feel like since this is supposedly true crime that there should be factual basis for this this, not just conjecture. I don't see any factual evidence of this.

I did enjoy the read and found it informative. Recommended to anyone who likes books about Hollywood and movie stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks through Netgalley for an advance copy. Expected publication on February 13, 2024.

Lana Turner, Hollywood film star, seemed to have it all but what she really had was the absolute worst taste in men. When she begins to date a known gangster, her life and that of her daughter, Cheryl, are about to go from bad to worse.

Lana Turner worked hard to achieve the fame she had. Through her search for love she found men who saw her as a meal ticket and men who used her to get near her daughter. When Lana's abusive relationship comes to a head, a man is left dead on her floor and her teen daughter is arrested for the murder. While the story is a bit long at the beginning, the story is worth the history and time.

I have read many books that covered this case but not one solely on the subject.
This was an interesting read and will appeal to true crime fans, as well as fans of Old Hollywood.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

In the same vein as L.A. Confidential and Raymond Chandler, Mr Sherman brings together the world of Old Hollywood and The Mob on a collision course toward murder! Carefully researched and told with such an engrossing manner that I could not put this book down. I enjoyed how well the story of Lana and Johnny was told and how the story unveiled new details that I did not know. A great read!

I really enjoyed this book and once you started reading it had you hooked from page 1. I love true crime and reading about the real story when something like this happens.

If you like Hollywood and the entertainment industry you need to read this book. I am thankful i got the chance to read and review.

Thanks for NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Lana Turner was an American actress whose five-decade career spanned the 1930s to the 1980s. Among other things, Turner's body of work includes classic films like 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946), 'Peyton Place' (1957), 'Imitation of Life' (1959), and 'Madame X' (1966), as well as television shows like 'The Survivors' and 'Falcon Crest.' Turner is also famous for her romance with gangster Johnny Stompanato, who was killed in Lana's Beverly Hills home on the evening of April 4, 1958.

In this book, author Casey Sherman discusses Turner's life and career as well as the mobsters who infiltrated Los Angeles in the 1900s, especially Mickey Cohen, boss of the Cohen crime family. At one point Cohen hired Johnny Stompanato to be his bodyguard, and the two men became good friends and partners in crime.

Lana Turner, born in Idaho in 1921, was named Julia Jean (and called Judy) by her parents Mildred and Virgil Turner. The Turners were estranged when Virgil was murdered in 1929, a tragedy that haunted Lana forever. Years later, after Lana experienced much drama in her life, she wrote "The shock I suffered then may be a valid excuse for me now. I know that my father's sweetness and gaiety, his warmth and his tragedy have never been that far from me; that, and a sense of loss and of growing up too fast."

Judy and her mother moved to Los Angeles in 1936, and beautiful teenage Judy was discovered in a soda shop by Billy Wilkerson, publisher of the 'Hollywood Reporter.' Before long Judy was renamed Lana and getting small parts in movies, which eventually became major roles. Sherman writes a good bit about the toxic Hollywood culture, and bigwigs like producer David O. Selznick, who had a casting couch for young actresses. Powerful men in the industry seemed to consider this behavior to be commonplace, and their due. Swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn, who seduced underage Lana, wrote in his memoir, "You saw a young lady you fancied and you'd say, 'star's perks!'

Turner - who was always looking for love - was easily enamored, had numerous affairs, and married one man after another. Lana was wed to bandleader Artie Shaw; restaurateur Steve Crane; millionaire socialite Henry J. Topping Jr.; and Tarzan actor Lex Barker.

Lana had her daughter Cheryl with Steve Crane, and young Cheryl was sexually molested by Lex Barker when the actor was married to Lana. It seems that, though Turner was incredibly successful in her career, she was dismally unlucky in her private life.

Lana's bad luck came to a head with handsome mobster Johnny Stompanato, who made it his business to meet Turner in 1957. Crime boss Mickey Cohen and his henchman Stompanato had a plan to extort Lana, who had amassed a fortune from her film roles. Sherman writes, "The two gangsters reverse engineered the classic honey trap scheme, using Stompanato as bait to lure Lana into bed. They would need to stage a threesome of some kind while Cohen's men surreptitiously filmed the sex act." Cohen and Stompanato believed Lana would pay any amount to safeguard her reputation and maintain her career. According to Sherman, the two hoodlums regularly perpetrated this scheme, and their victims included superstars such as Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and Spencer Tracy.

In any case, Stompanato fell in love with Turner while trying to execute the blackmail plan, and he decided to become a movie producer. So the hoodlum made it his business to become Lana's REAL boyfriend. Unfortunately for Lana, Stompanato was a controlling abusive man who shouted at the star, threatened her, hit her, and made her life miserable. Lana's teenage daughter Cheryl would sometimes hear the loud arguments between Lana and Stompanato, and become concerned for her mother.

All this came to a head on the evening of April 4, 1958, when Turner and Stompanato were in Lana's bedroom, and the actress tried to break it off with the mobster. Cheryl heard the resultant shouting and cursing and ran into her mother's room. Subsequently, Stompanato was stabbed with a newly purchased, sharp, eight-inch kitchen knife. Sherman writes, "With one thrust, the blade penetrated his abdomen, slicing into one of his kidneys, striking a vertebra, and puncturing his aorta. He stepped away from the knife, a plume of blood now expanding from where the weapon had entered his body. Johnny Stompanato, gangster, conman, and abuser, was dead."

The author goes on to discuss who stabbed Stompanato, the aftermath of the incident, and the continuing angst in Turner's life. Sherman includes his own speculations about the homicide, as well as a bibliography of works he used to research the book. Will the whole truth ever be known? Time will tell.

This is a well-written, engaging book about Lana Turner, Hollywood, and American gangsters. Highly recommended to true crime aficionados.

Thanks to Netgalley, Casey Sherman, and Sourcebooks for a copy of the book.