Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
This book pulled me right in, and I read it very quickly. This is the story of Lana Turner and her involvement in mobster Johnny Stompanato's murder, but the author has included a lot of other interesting facts about Old Hollywood. I learned so much about the studio system, and how the women were treated (which was terrible). There's also a lot of information about the mobsters, and how they controlled so many people. Lana Turner was in an abusive relationship with mobster Johnny Stompanato, when he was stabbed by her daughter, Cheryl Crane.
The book seemed to be well-researched, and I enjoyed learning more about this time in Hollywood and the murder.

A very interesting read about Lana Turner, a Hollywood actress, and her involvement in a murder - well researched and brilliantly written.
Hollywood, gangsters, pretty actors/actresses - it's what you can find in this book. Highly recommended

Thank you to #netgalley, #caseysherman, and #sourcebooks for this ARC of a gripping, true crime story, old timey Hollywood, and Mobsters from the ‘40’s & ‘50’s

Lana Turner was a Hollywood Star who was caught up in a murder who done it? Her? Her daughter? Someone else?

I had known about the murder of Mafioso Joey Stampanato and that Lana Turner and/or her daughter were involved but didn’t really put too much effort into knowing more. It was old timey Hollywood stuff and I just didn’t care. Until I saw the cover of this book. The cover caught my eye and the synopsis grabbed my attention so I requested an ARC and was approved. I am so glad that I was because this story was so much more than just the murder.

The book also features Mickey Cohen, Bugsy Siegel, and other well-known Mobsters from that era.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. Much more than I thought I would. I flew through the pages and I kid you not, I read everything in a Humphrey Bogart tone: “Here’s looking at you, kid” If you like old timey Hollywood, if you like True Crime, if you like to read, I recommend this book 1000x over!

Anyone interested in Old Hollywood has probably heard about the scandalous murder of Lana Turner’s gangster lover. I knew little about what had happened so the premise of this book was very intriguing. This is non-fiction where the author embellishes situations by using his own imagination to bring situations to life. The benefit of this style of non-fiction is that story becomes more readable, compared to a purely factual, straightforward account of someone’s life. The drama of Lana’s life is just over the top and jaw-dropping at times.
But this book is not only about Lana Turner. There is more information about the history of gangsters than I expected, but since that is an integral part of Lana’s life as well as Hollywood history, it is another interesting facet of the whole picture.
The author is an advocate for Lana and her daughter, explaining how the system affected Lana’s choices, and illuminating her strength despite all the challenges she dealt with and poor decisions she made. Women in Hollywood at that time were pure pawns and she did fight the system as much as she could and stand up for herself, even against the criminal elements.
A great book for history buffs and especially those interested in Hollywood.

A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF TINSELTOWN'S MOST SHOCKING CRIME
BY: CASEY SHERMAN

About 3.75 Stars!

SPOILER ALERT!

When I was just a very young little girl I used to watch the old movies with my Mother. I remember being very impressed with Lana Turner among many others. But, I particularly remember being enamored by Grace Kelly and Lana Turner. I have a ridiculously high cable T.V. bill getting just about every channel available. I get all of the premium channels plus I pay separately for Hulu and Paramount Plus, without the advertisements driving up the costs. After watching a couple of series that are featured on each premium channel I've pretty much exhausted what little I was interested in. This results in leaving me to keep paying each month for nothing, as I don't want to watch the movies or other series that these premium channels feature. I crave to be able to watch those old movies longing for the nostalgic experience that I shared with my now deceased Mother. I have Turner Classic Network which I recently added to my package, which sometimes offers those old movies, but it's nothing like I remember being able to watch in the early 1990's. For some reason in the early 1990's, cable T.V. offered all of the old movies, that featured all of the movie stars mentioned in this non-fiction book that Lana Turner interacted with during her iconic years as the reigning queen of the silver screen. I was able to re-watch the same old movies as a young woman, that I enjoyed watching with my Mom. Consequently, since I'm more of a reader I only watch T.V. right before bed falling asleep with the T.V. on.

This non-fiction book features a comprehensive history of Lana Turner's life beginning with both of the origins of both her mother Mildred and her father Virgil's lineage. Virgil Turner had recently visited his nine year old daughter who was his and Mildred's only child. Her name was Julia Jean Turner who was called, "Judy," and "JuJean" by her parents who sent her to live with foster parents. At nine years old she complained of being used as a scullery maid and beaten by the foster family that she was living with. Her father asked her if she would like him to buy her anything special? She had told her father that she wanted a bicycle when he visited her last. A glistening red bicycle was what he set out to earn the money to make good on his promise to his daughter by his winnings at gambling. That same night he was murdered on December 14, 1930. He had won the money and had a diamond stick pin that his killer(s) stole leaving his body sitting upright to appear that he had passed out from being drunk. He was struck in the face or head by a blunt force object when his body was discovered. His estranged wife Mildred and Virgil had not been living together at the time of his death. Mildred had been fired from her job as a hairdresser having been accused of stealing money from the cash register.

When the young Lana was discovered at around fourteen or fifteen years old at a counter having a soft drink because of her striking beauty she wasn't yet named Lana. The name Lana was given to her by a movie studio executive. She was for many years under contract with MGM where she upstaged Joan Crawford who spoke down to Lana. Joan Crawford spoke to a much younger Lana Turner which was similar to the way she spoke to her daughter Christina, who would call Joan Crawford, "Mommy Dearest." Lana Turner was the reigning queen of movie stars with MGM interacting with many famous movie stars in that era. When she starred with Clark Gable his wife Carole Lombard was so distraught that she committed suicide.

What didn't work for me was the equal attention in alternating chapters that dealt with the gangsters of organized crime dating as far back as Al Capone. I do understand why the author mentioned the many different gangsters setting the stage for Mickey Cohen's rise to power on the West coast. How he came about to wield the power that he did and how influential he was.

Lana Turner had already been married with four disastrous outcomes prior to meeting Johnny Stompanato. Mickey Cohen schemed with the thug Johnny Stompanato from Woodstock, Illinois to hatch a plan that they concocted together originally to embarrass Lana Turner to extort money from her. Johnny Stompanato was relentless in his pursuit of trying to win the attention of this famous actress by sending her enormous quantities of bouquets of flowers. When Lana finally lowered her guard and agreed to meet with Johnny her troubles began. Johnny was not the charmer that she thought he was initially, but instead a wolf in sheep clothing.

Johnny flew into jealous rage without any rational reason. He stalked Lana showing up making accusations which often led to brutal physical beatings, emotional and verbal abuse. Lana was afraid of the public scandal it would raise if she reported him to the police. He threatened to slash her face and often threatened to kill Lana, her mother Mildred, and Lana's daughter Cheryl.

After Lana bought her new home after returning from filming abroad, as she went into her bedroom she found Johnny waiting for her. He started beating her and this time she stabbed him with a knife she had bought that day with an eight inch blade. This is what I read in the text leading me to believe that she killed Johnny, not Cheryl because that's what the text stated. Lana immediately called four people who quickly arrived at her new home. Her long time personal physician, her mother Mildred, a lawyer, and Steve Crane, her second husband and her daughter Cheryl's father.

It was decided since Cheryl was only fourteen rendering her a minor that would guarantee that Cheryl wouldn't receive the death penalty, that they would tell the police when they arrived that it was Cheryl who stabbed and killed Johnny believing her mother's life was endangered. So that was decided and when the police arrived that's what was told to them.

Did I enjoy reading this? No. I found Lana's life story to be incredibly sad and hard to endure. Am I grateful for having read this? Yes. All I knew about Lana Turner's life prior to reading this was that she was a beautiful and successful actress. Would I recommend this? Yes. I would definitely recommend this to all fans of the true crime genre. I also want to emphasize what I truly felt was impressive is that most statements made and dialogue was footnoted making this more authentic because at the end each footnote is annotated with a Bibliography. There is still a treasure trove of details to discover that I haven't included in this review. This was a fascinating well above average written account of the sensational murder that stunned the nation.

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Casey Sherman, and SOURCEBOOKS for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#AMurderinHollywood #CaseySherman #Sourcebooks #NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really liked this authors writing style. I will definitely be reading more of his works. I knew who Lana Turner was but wasn't born at the time of this event so was very unaware of it. The whole story was fascinating for me and makes me wonder did her daughter truly commit the murder? Some reviewers feel the author makes claim, in a roundabout way, that Lana did it. I didn't get that sense, but felt that he laid out the facts and left it up to the reader to decide. A really good book and thoroughly researched. Includes a few pictures. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I had never heard of Lana Turner before this book, which is suprising considering the company she kept and the actors/actresses with whom she worked. As well as her scandalous life. It made me wonder why was she not as much an icon as people like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and other actors with whom she worked.

It even shone a light on the cattiness and jealousy of other actresses at the time, I didn't realise how insecure and petty the industry leaders were, but given the circumstances I do see how it was, and still is, a dog eat dog world.

I did have to fact check a few things, and I came away from the book wondering if Cheryl really did kill Johnny as she has always said and stood by.

I find it interesting as to how Hollywood has not changed much and how the #metoo movement is so recent even though men have been in a position of power, and have exerted it in the most hideous and devastating ways for decades upon decades.

The story of Lana is quite sad. She was degraded, called talentless and not chosen for her brain or acting skills. She was taken advantage of and that became her normal, which was probably the reason she let people treat her like a second class citizen.

Lana jumped from relationship to relationship- the classic "daddy issues" tale, where she looked for love in all the wrong places and never clung to anything real. She married several times, all to avoid gossip and her name being ruined. The men abused her and Johnny may have been her snapping point.

While I do see how Cheryl could have also been at breaking point after watching her mother jump from man to man and being abused and treated in the worst ways possible, it makes me second guess whether Cheryl actually committed the crime, and not Lana, with Cheryl taking the blame due to her being a minor.l with less repercussions.

I also found the parallels between Lana and Marilyn Monroe's lives interesting, especially given that Lana advised Marilyn in her younger years. But, as we know, history tends to repeat itself.

It brings into question just how many Hollywood starlets preceding the #metoo movement were taken advantage of. The image of old Hollywood glamour is definitely tainted and lately it has been shown, more and more often, that all that glitters is not gold.

This book was fast paced and interesting but it left out a few "facts" and "theories" that I would have liked to be explored (eg Lana catching Cheryl in bed with Johnny- though I see this as a ridiculous theory, it would have been nice to see it fleshed out and even disproved) and I do wish the narrative was more straight forward.

Overall the story of Lana is heartbreaking. She deserved more than what life (and Hollywood) handed her. She deserved love and respect.

An intimate look at the life of Lana Turner and the underbelly of Hollywood. It takes us into a little known but fascinating history of her life and times . It was very readable and fascinating.
Thanks to Netgalley and the people for letting read this book

Thank you to @netgalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC. Julia Jean Turner was discovered in a soda shop in LA where she just moved with her mom. At the young age of 15 and now Lana Turner, she soon became a big star acting with the biggest names in Hollywood. The industry was tough on females with a lot of sexual harassment and control from the studio so she sought shelter with men. After a long successful career, seven husbands and one daughter, she gets mixed up with notorious mobster Johnny Stompanato. When one night he is killed in her bedroom, she has to answer for the crime. This murder that sent shockwaves through Hollywood and the mob. #AMurderinHollywood #CaseySherman #Feb2024 #Sourcebooks

The dark story behind the bright lights of Tinseltown.

I didn't know much about this case and found this to be a very interesting and informative read. Fascinating.

This book has many triggers and not for younger readers. The story was well told and will be haring this for others to read once released. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

My thanks to the author and publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC. I attest the following review is my own work.

I was interested in reading A Murder in Hollywood for several reasons. First, I read Casey Sherman's book Helltown a few months ago and found it to be very compelling reading (also recommended). This title struck me, because while I knew Lana Turner was a Hollywood actress I did not know about her scandalous life and the murder of her boyfriend/mobster and how she was implicated.

The book is both a biography of Turner and a case study of the events surrounding the death of Johnny Stompanato, an abusive self-described gigolo who makes Harvey Weinstein look like a nice guy. The writing is fast-paced, and I could almost picture Walter Winchell doing a narration of the book (he is a figure in the story although only a small role).

The story reads like a Hollywood tabloid from the 1950s, with a long list of whos who in the industry and who is screwing whos who in the bedroom. A lot of big names are mentioned in this book and it is very revealing. Lana Turner had numerous affairs with other actors and players around Tinseltown and suffered rape and abuse at the hands of who knows how many men. Her story is one of determination and resiliency, but also a very sad story about a beautiful actress who was looked upon as a sex object. Interesting to learn that Lana Turner advised Marilyn Monroe early in the latter's career about what she would encounter in the motion picture industry.

This book is not light reading and some of the sexual situations are definitely not for younger eyes. If you are interested in the subject this is a quick but thorough read on a story many of us living in 2023 never knew about.

I liked the book and give it four stars..

This was a very interesting book about a famous person that I’ve only ever heard of from my parents growing up.

So much more than I expected! It’s a deep dive into Lana’s life as well as the Stompanato case. I’m still not convinced Cheryl killed him, but, no one else seems to be either.

It’s that part of this that gives it a lower rating. It’s a great read, but it’s in no way definitive about the case. The parts before the killing are great! I loved learning more about Lana. Her story was not at all I thought it was. The writer really sunk his teeth into this story. Great writer!

Definitely recommend this one!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman is an intimate portrait of the glamourous Hollywood star Lana Turner. I love watching old movies and so I was familiar with Lana Turner, but I didn’t know anything of significance about her. It’s always fascinating to see behind the scenes when a façade has been maintained for so long.

Beautiful, successful, and famous, Turner’s life was far from trouble-free. While everyone knows the story of how she was discovered at a soda shop, the details of her emotional and physical abuse may not be as well-known. It may have been considered the “Golden Age” of film, but women involved in the industry might recall an environment far from golden.

This story has everything—celebrities, mobsters, dysfunctional relationships, money, movies, and murder. If a movie about Turner’s life was produced, they’d have to leave out chunks just to make it believable and an appropriate length. Author Casey Sherman’s detailed research reveals, sadly, that the life of this beautiful woman was tragic and dark.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advance readers’ copy.

An excellent deep dive into a singular case of murder in Hollywood. I was impressed by the depth and breadth of research here. It's easy to read and follow, and the story is captivating. A great read for true crime fans.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this biography.

Lana Turner became a star in the late '40s and '50s. This book begins with the murder of her father in San Francisco and her mother's rush to move herself and her daughter to Hollywood to hide from the killer. She apparently was discovered at a soda fountain near her high school and put under contract to MGM. She started slowly, but soon became known as "the sweater girl". As she became more famous she began to have disastrous relationships with men she didn't get to know well. After four terrible marriages, she met Johnny Stompanado who worked with Mickey Cohen, the Hollywood gangster. He eventually took over her life, slapping her around and controlling her. When he ended up dead on her bedroom floor, her lawyer set up the script for Lana and her daughter Cheryl, saying that Cheryl had stabbed him with an 8 inch kitchen knife. The book is ambiguous about the truth, as Lana lived the rest of her life afraid that she would be investigated. Cheryl wrote her own tell-all novel called Detour which I read years ago, and I just assumed that her story was the truth, but this book leaves me wondering. But what I really get from this book is the sad life for glamour girls in Hollywood. She married the men she did to avoid scandals about affairs. If she had only taken her relationships more slowly she would probably have had less drama and tears. I believe she have four more husbands after Stompanado so what did she learn? Did she ever learn to feel happy and confident? Maybe not.

An intriguing true crime story involving Lana Turner and the mob. But the book is so much more than that as it talks about what life in Hollywood was like for these starlets, and the history of the other mafia bosses. I really enjoyed learning new bits of history on a subject I thought I knew well.

Lana Turner was already the biggest star in the world when she skyrocketed to even more fame during a lurid inquisition after the killing of her abusive mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. It was Lana's 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl, who wielded the knife. She had rushed into the middle of an argument in an attempt to protect her mother from a beating. This, at least, is the story that has always been told up until at least 2017 when the narrative began to turn, with Lana being pinpointed as the real killer.

While this book was fascinating and I tore through it, the author, Casey Sherman, also takes the stance that it was Lana who killed Johnny, not her teenaged daughter. However, it's done in such a roundabout way that I had to go back and read the key portions several times to absorb what the author was saying. I'm not sure why it wasn't written in a more straightforward way. Additionally, though I poured over the bibliography, I could not figure out where Sherman got his information. There is a book by a man named Darwin Porter, published in 2017, that purports that a detective who was at the crime scene, Fred Otash, confessed before his death to helping Lana's lawyer, Jerry Geisler, come up with a story to save Lana from the electric chair by blaming Cheryl, as she was a teen and would likely be let go. (As it was, the teen spent significant amounts of time in jail.) Conveniently, most of the people who were there that fatal night, other than Cheryl, are dead. I have no idea how credible Porter, or even Otash, are. I'm not sure I buy any of it. Cheryl has always stuck to her story that she killed Stompanato, and I'll be curious to see if she has anything to say about this book.

It's quite possible that it was Lana who did it. But it's also quite possible it was Cheryl. The crime scene could have been altered because Lana wanted to protect her daughter and take the fall until her lawyer convinced her that Cheryl would stand a much better chance of getting off. It's also no surprise that a large, tough man like Stompanato could have been killed by a teen—first off, Cheryl was quite tall, much taller than Lana. Secondly, she caught him utterly by surprise.

Another thing—the Porter book also says that Lana stabbed Johnny because she walked in on Cheryl and Stompanato in bed together. Sherman conveniently leaves this part out. If you're going to repeat one theory, why not the other? And does anyone seriously believe that 14-year-old Cheryl was in bed with her mother's boyfriend—while her mother was home?! Come on. Sherman, probably sensing that this victim-blaming theory wouldn't go over well post-MeToo (he thanks the movement in the liner notes), doesn't bring up this idea at all.

At any rate, if Sherman does believe Cheryl did it (and he appears to), he should have explained this more thoroughly and cited his sources. Also, he apparently knows what was going through Lana's mind as she stabbed Johnny—she "went black" with rage. Where is the source for this?

I give it 4 stars because it was a riveting read. Just have my doubts about the reporting.

Thank you to Casey Sherman, the publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a lot of fun to read. It was a thriller like the best of them, but was full of all the who done its of a classic movie.