The Glamorous Dead

September 11, 2017
Early in Gates’s impressive first novel, set in pre-WWII Hollywood, a police detective questions wannabe starlet Penny Harp and real-life film star Barbara “Stany” Stanwyck, who has befriended Penny, outside the Florentine Gardens, “the town’s best revue.” The nude body of Penny’s roommate and best friend, fellow wannabe starlet Rosemary Brown, has been found buried in a passageway behind the Florentine Gardens, minus a thumb. When Penny becomes a suspect in Rosemary’s murder, she turns sleuth to clear her name. Stany lends support as Penny starts sneaking into studio offices and lurking around back lots. When a second actress winds up dead, Penny knows she’s next unless she can uncover the motive behind the murders. Gates skillfully evokes a Hollywood era when the studio chiefs wielded enormous power over the lives of everyone in their orbits and would go to any length to protect their stars and big-budget movies. Glamour takes a back seat to lust, lies, and greed in this well-wrought mystery. Agent: Jennifer Udden, Barry Goldblatt Literary.

September 1, 2017

When two friends leave their small town for the glamour of Hollywood in 1940, one ends up dead and the other is the primary suspect in her murder. It's the golden age of Hollywood, and Penny Harp and Rosemary Brown are extras in Preston Sturges's comedy, The Lady Eve. Rosemary disappears on Halloween, only to be discovered later buried behind the Florentine Gardens nightclub. Penny, who knows Rosemary's secrets, won't reveal any information, even when the film's star. Barbara Stanwyck "Stany," offers to help Penny solve the mystery. Stany has the power of Paramount behind her, but that won't stop the police from arresting Penny. It's a high-stakes world in which the studios have unbelievable influence and use it to protect their stars; extras are disposable. VERDICT Quotes from the magazine Photoplay begin each chapter in this gritty, noir debut that vividly captures the atmosphere of glamorous parties, movie stars, and influential studios. Readers of Kelli Stanley's "Miranda Corbie" mysteries or Linda L. Richards's "Kitty Pangborn" crime novels will appreciate the celebrity and culture of the period.--LH

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
Weary of the limited prospects awaiting them in 1940s Buena Park, California, Penny Harp and her best friend, Rosemary, head to Hollywood and find jobs as extras at Paramount Studios. Penny befriends Barbara Stanwyck, and Rosemary starts getting some featured screen time. But their luck runs out there. Rosemary is murdered, and an assumed-jealous Penny is the prime suspect. BFF Stany runs hot and cold during the investigation, forcing Penny to fend for herself in the City of Angels. Gates' first novel is full of the cameos and factoids that fans of Hollywood's Golden Age will enjoy. From the girlie reviews at the Florentine Gardens to a rumored tunnel that married producers would use to visit their ingenue mistresses, the book is a treasure trove of movie lore. Full of moxie, Penny is the perfect leading lady for this entertaining mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)