A bizarre mystery and murder set during Hollywood's Golden Age threatens the filming of The Maltese Falcon.

BYE BYE BLACKBIRD is the second in author Elizabeth Crowens's "Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mystery" series featuring PI partners Babs Norman and Guy Brandt. The story opens on July 4, 1941. The war is on in Europe, and principal photography on the film, "The Maltese Falcon," has just started when a dead woman tumbles into the reception area of B. Norman Investigations. As Babs, Guy, and Wiggins, the property caretaker, await the police, Humphrey Bogart arrives with a bizarre mummy-wrapped crow in an Egyptian canopic jar that was left at the front door of his home that morning. A similar bird is found to be tucked inside the dead woman's clothing, and the following day, Mary Astor, Bogart's co-star in the film, receives one at her home as well. Babs and Guy are hired to discover who is behind the creepy deliveries and why.

Babs and Guy, the two friends and partners, are a fun duo to watch as they conduct a well-structured investigation on their way to finding the truth. Babs still struggles to be taken seriously as a PI (even by her mother), while Guy is constrained from revealing his true nature. I enjoyed their brother-and-sister style relationship, their closeness, camaraderie, and constant bickering. I worried about Bab's decision to get involved with Detective Felix Allgood to gain him as a sympathetic source of insider information eventually. He was smarmy and more, and something just didn't feel right.

The plot moves steadily forward as Babs and Guy must work their case around the activities of the two Hollywood police detectives, and there are few clues to jump-start the process. Starting from scratch, they interview Bogart's fellow castmates and others involved with the making of the film as the dead birds and the appearance of the dead woman seem to mirror aspects of its story. Their suspect list reads like a Hollywood's "Who's Who," and the individual interviews, with the likes of John Huston, Sidney Greenstreet, and character actor Elisha Cook, Jr., to name a few, are full of Hollywood gossip, trivia, and history. Slowly but surely, the story comes out.

I recommend BYE BYE BLACKBIRD to readers of historical cozy mysteries, fans of the previous novel in the series, and those who are interested in stories featuring filmmaking or the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Bye Bye Blackbird was captivating at the initial stages of reading, however when the story developed it dwindled. The suspense and anticipation at the beginning had me intrigued but I was disappointed with the finale. The turn of events didn't reach to me.

I was hoping for more excitement and thrill. The introduction of various characters had me wondering which direction the plot was heading which I enjoyed, however it was overlooked by in the final chapters.

Even though I did not like how the novel ended, I did appreciate the story. I rate this novel 3 out of five stars.

Liked it . Due to health issues cannot not but will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This novel, set around the production of the most famous version of the Maltese Falcon, has an intriguing premise but sadly fails to engage. The dialogue is light and bouncy, but this is often at odds with the seriousness of the events. The over the top attention to pets and miscellaneous animals is distracting and frankly annoying. Too much is expected of a new reader to the series with frequent reference to earlier events and prior character development. Disappointing,

A fun romp through old-time Hollywood. I don't know much about the movie stars and culture of the time, but the setting and dialogue felt authentic. They were certainly snappy and fun to read. I was mostly interested in the mystery of the Falcon, since that is such a iconic film, and the main reason I picked up this book. Unfortunately, the mystery itself fell flat for me. Nevertheless, this was a quick, enjoyable read with an interesting lead pair.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

I’m a huge fan of film noir and books set during Hollywood in the golden age. So when I saw the premise of this book I was intrigued. I do think my prior knowledge of many of the people referenced in this book enhanced my enjoyment so it would be interesting to see how this felt for people less familiar with the period.

I thought the author did a good job with writing voices in this time period and setting. I tend to gravitate towards stories with this setting but the characters can regularly be over the top and unnatural. Not here, the characters felt believable while still being genuine to the time period. The dialogue never felt stilted or like it was trying too hard.

I was a big fan of the main character Babs. I found myself less engaged with the mystery they were trying to solve, but very engaged with Babs and her assortment of animals! Indeed, Babs history, her problem solving and curiosity and the storyline featuring her ex husband were the most interesting parts of this book for me.

This was fun to visit some familiar names in a new story!

A unique piece of fan fiction.
Fun, but confusing.
A solution I needd to read more than once

The real-life characters were well researched
The made up characters were 2 dimensional

Summer of 1941 and the calling card for actors beginning with Humphrey Bogart is a black mummified falcon, followed by black dead crows. It seems ominous and the duo of Babs and Guy, private detectives are set with the task of why and by whom.
Involving a host of Hollywood stars and dead bodies our private eye ends up interviewing and trying to track a killer (albeit humorously) with a lot of activity and coming up with dead ends. The murders keep piling up and the detectives are behind in catching the murderers before another victim surfaces.

Detailed in its descriptiveness of Hollywood stars, which was a major part of the story, detectives trailed far behind. Amusing.

1941 Hollywood. First a female collapses outside their office door with a dead bird inside her coat then Humphrey Bogart employs p.i. Norman and Brandt as he found a canopic jar with a dead bird inside. But why and by whom. Seems virtually every actor of the period is interviewed (and therefore would be innocent of the crimes) coupled with a large amount of animals. Not sure how they managed to solve the case.
Overall an enjoyable historical mystery
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thank NetGalley and Level Best Books - Historia for an advance reader copy of “Bye Bye Blackbird.” All opinions and comments are my own.

If you want a history of a lot of the actors of Tinseltown’s Golden Age, then “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Elizabeth Crowens is for you. Babs Norman and her partner Guy Brandt meander through the story in a very muddling fashion as the two chase down who’s leaving dead birds for some of the leading lights of the Hollywood movie world (and the silly side plot “chasing” the ex-husband slows everything down even further).

And other than all the talk, there’s isn’t much of a sense of time and place. Good for those who might want to read about the high and mighty of the 40s movie scene, but light on everything else. And with an ending that has more questions than answers. If you’re looking for a mystery plot worthy of the fictional stories of the time, look somewhere else.

This book was too chaotic for me. The mystery seemed interesting, but there was too much going on at once. All the animals frankly distracted from the plot. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!