I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

She can't bring down all the evil in the world...

...but she'll try her best to do it anyway.

Welcome to Prohibition-era New York City where "modern girls" like Ginny Dugan leave behind their humdrum day jobs at the end of each workday and escape into the dazzling world of nightclubs and speakeasies, where bootleg liquor and other temptations await. Ginny is determined to make it in the big city, toiling away as an advice columnist for Photoplay magazine but hoping to convince the boss that she is ready to be a real reporter. She lives with her older sister Dottie, a chorus line dancer for the Ziegfeld Follies, and neither of them have any desire to move back home to Kansas. Dottie has always been the star in their family...beautiful, talented, and impeccable in her manners and morals...while Ginny has lived in her shadow. Dottie even landed the wealthy Charlie as her fiancé, on whom Ginny has a had a big crush since they were all kids together back in Kansas (and who is turning his charm on the susceptible Ginny of late) When Ginny and her friend Mary head out to one of Harlem's hidden clubs where it is rumored the famous singer Josephine Hurston will be performing, they toss back the bootleg booze and dance up a storm. But the girls separate, and when the club is raided by the police during Josephine's performance it is Ginny who both finds herself backstage watching the singer get snatched by some roughnecks and who gets shot and left for dead. Finding out what happened to Josephine might not only be the story Ginny needs to prove her worthiness as a reporter, it may also be the best way to keep herself alive when those who kidnapped the singer find out that Ginny isn't dead. She joins forces with Jack Crawford, a square and disagreeable PI who is looking into a string of drug-induced deaths in the Harlem clubs, and the stakes get higher by the day. Another death strikes, this time too close to home, and as they investigate both the club scene and the showgirls of the Follies she and Jack are making some powerful people very angry. Ginny's impulsive, live-for-the-moment ways may be the death of her, and may pull others down with her.
Set against the backdrop of NYC during the days of Prohibition, when liquor was against the law yet still kept flowing if one knew where to look, where jazz music, flapper dresses and bobbed hair were all the rage and the upper classes couldn't get enough of the Harlem clubs, this is a mystery with plenty of the titular glitter. Ginny is sassy and brassy, wanting to make it in a world where she doesn't have the right looks or the right connections to get where she wants to go. She makes bad choice after bad choice, trusts the wrong people, picks the wrong men, but she has the determination to get through those mistakes and keeps fighting to make it. Jack first seems to be hopelessly square but has a backstory that shows he is as flawed a person as Ginny is herself, and characters like Josephine, her sister Ruby and Follies star Gloria are all intriguing women who are finding success in a man's world on their own terms. Glitter in the Dark is by turns gritty and glamorous, and the world of speakeasies, showgirls and jazz comes alive within its pages. The pacing is for the most part quite brisk, though a few times the descriptions get repetitive and lengthy causing the story to lag. Ginny's attraction first to Charlie and later to both Jack and Gloria provides another thread within the story. I found it an engaging read, and given that a few plot elements were deliberately left dangling I look forward to the further adventures of Ginny. Readers of noir fiction, historical novels set during the Jazz Age, Layne Fargo, Tana French and Megan Abbott would be remiss if they don't give this colorful debut novel by Olesya Lyuzna a try. My thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers/Mysterious Press for allowing me access in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this 1920's historical noir.. With engaging characters and a fast paced plot, it would make a great series. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for an advanced reader copy

A nicely atmospheric mystery that sees Ginny, an advice columnist and Jack, a PI, team up to find a singer who was kidnapped from a Harlem speakeasy. Set during Prohibition it also takes on a variety of issues. I liked that this didn't lean into madcap but rather into a bit of noir. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good characters and fine storytelling make this a good read.

This book is pure jazz-age magic with a sharp mystery at its heart. Ginny Dugan is the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for—smart, stubborn, and always in over her head. Between the smoky Harlem speakeasies, the glitzy theater world, and a killer on the loose, the story keeps you hooked from page one.

The mystery is twisty, the romance crackles, and the setting is so vivid you can practically hear the jazz playing in the background. If you love historical mysteries with a fierce, determined lead, Glitter in the Dark is a must-read!

Glitter in the Dark is such a delicious blend of the prohibition era and noir storytelling!

Ginny Dugan is an advice journalist who is swept up into a complex crime after witnessing the kidnapping of an extremely popular Harlem singer. Hoping to further her career and assuage her guilt for not stopping the crime, she becomes obsessed with figuring out why the singer was kidnapped. In the process, she crosses paths with PI Jack Crawford, who is also investigating the case, and the two become begrudging allies. But when a brutal murder occurs, they both question how far they're willing to go to solve the case of the missing starlet.

I was so immersed in Ginny's world, and the full cast of characters felt fully realizes and intriguing. I love a noir mystery, and this one delivers on that front while also transporting us to prohibition era Harlem, a fun and unique way to enjoy the genre.

Fans of Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen will love Glitter in the Dark!

_Glitter in the Dark_ by Olesya Lyuzna is an immersive historical noir debut for fans of Prohibition-era and crime fiction. Ginny Dugan is an advice columnist tired of writing fluff pieces when she witnesses the kidnapping of a beloved singer at a Harlem speakeasy. She pursues the case and partners with detective Jack Crawford, leading the pair deep into the world of organized crime. With plot twists and well-developed characters, this book will appeal to many readers.

A young reporter who frequents the speakeasies of Harlem ends up investigating the mysterious disappearance of a singer.

A debut queer noir pitched as Megan Abbott's Queenpin meets Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Aspiring reporter Ginny Dugan’s always looking for a good time and a great story. She finds both when a wild night out ends in her witnessing the kidnapping of a torch singer at Harlem’s hottest speakeasy. Ginny teams with a brooding private eye to crack the case—but the dirt they dig up under her glittery world might be the death of them.

This was a memorable and immersive historical noir debut about an ambitious and driven young woman who dives into the dark underbelly of society after she witnessed a kidnapping. I was gripped from the beginning thanks to the authors engaging voice. It felt very old-timey in a positive way that really set the tone. Time-period accurate, yet still modern enough to not be difficult to parse. The characters felt lived in and realistic. I could see certain scenes play out like movies, reminiscent of party scenes in the Great Gatsby. I’d recommend this book for anyone who loves a good historical mystery!!

As a huge historical mystery/noir fan, I was really looking forward to this book, and was excited to get an ARC. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me as well as I hoped.

I liked the setting and atmosphere, but found the mystery very convoluted and hard to follow, and while I don't mind an antiheroine, I had trouble liking or rooting for Ginny. The prose was nice, but sometimes seemed to prioritize style over clarity, adding to my confusion at points about what exactly was going on in the story. I hope this novel works better for others.

This was a great debut novel from Olesya Lyuzna and enjoyed the Prohibition element worked overall. The plot has that element that I was looking for and enjoyed getting to know this world and characters. The characters had that element that I was looking for and worked in this type of book. I was invested in the mystery and so glad I got to read this.