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Historical mystery legend Rhys Bowen is back with another book! We Three Queens follows a new mother as she navigates the stresses of raising her child while a film is made on the grounds of her estate. When someone is murdered on set, the scandal sends curious minds on the hunt for a killer.
The premise of Bowen’s new novel makes for an interesting story packed with intrigue, lies and tension. There’s no better setting than a film set, where actors abound, drama is inherent, and deception runs rampant. It turns out, several recent novels take place in the world of movies. Darkness, drama, revenge and mystery take the spotlight in these six books about the dark side of Hollywood and the film industry at large.
We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen
It’s 1936, and Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Rannoch and her husband Darcy are hosting an unusual guest. King Edward has fallen in love with a divorced American, Wallis Simpson, and Wallis needs to be hidden while Edward deliberates jeopardizing his crown to marry her.
With Wallis hidden in their estate, things seem to be safe while Georgie raises her newborn baby. Until, the couple and their guest realize the estate’s owner has granted a film crew access to the grounds to make a new motion picture. The tale of Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn comes to life outside their home. Soon, one of the stars is murdered, and Georgie is determined to solve the murder before it’s too late.
The Unforgettable Loretta Darling by Katherine Blake
“Loretta” left more than her real name behind when she pulled a con that transported her by passenger liner from England to New York and then cross country by train to Hollywood. Twenty-year-old Loretta Reynolds is pretty enough to become an actress, but her ambition is to excel behind the scenes, not in front of a camera.
When she gets her longed-for break as a trainee makeup artist, her crew of companions continues to expand over time as Loretta masters the art and craft of movie makeup and earns a reputation for competence and reliability. But in 1950s Hollywood, jealousy, rivalry and back-stabbing are common among the other makeup artists. Soon, she finds herself caught up in a sham marriage with an unlikeable man who promises her success and falls into even more danger. The only way to get revenge on all who have wronged her and her friends is to rely on her expertise in botany and phytotoxicology: the study of plant poisons.
(Read the review)
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
Writers in desperate need of work turn their attention towards the film industry, and Jane is no exception. After living in luxury, house-sitting in a Los Angeles home with her family, she hopes her long-time-coming novel will be the book that sends her soaring towards success. But her plan B lands her in a meeting with Hampton Ford, a big-time producer at a streaming network who likes Jane’s ideas and is looking for a “real” writer to join his team.
Jane’s break comes in writing a comedy that centers around being biracial — something she knows well — but the high of success turns bleak when things begin to go wrong for her and the show. This satirical novel for fans of The Other Black Girl and Yellowface explores racial identity, failure, and the American television industry.
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Sylvia Moreno Garcia
Vera Larios, is a talented but unknown Mexican actress who has just been cast in the role of a lifetime. Salome is a star-making role in a big-budget film and in the Golden Age of Hollywood, actresses will do anything to get cast. Nancy Hartley is stuck in her career and envies the fame that Vera has begun to acquire after her casting announcement.
As the rivalry grows in their climb to the top, gossip, scandal and intrigue surround the duo. The actresses’ lives begin to blur with the tale of the legendary princess Salome herself, and the stories of three femme-fatales parallel one another as tragedy befalls them.
The Devil Raises His Own by Scott Phillips
Debauchery, violence and numerous unsolved murders make up this clever work of fiction. Flavia Ogden Purcell has killed her abusive husband in the apartment above the movie house, destroying her reputation and chasing her out of town. Her grandfather takes her in and invites her into his photography studio, where his photography of nude models becomes tied up with the world of the “blue movie” porn industry.
In 1916 Hollywood across cheap apartments, a warehouse film studio, railway yards and the back alleys of LA, rumors of a series of murders spread across the city. Flavia and her grandfather become involved, as does a rotating cast of characters living on the margins, trying to make a living in the shadows of the burgeoning motion picture industry.
(Read the review)
Vamp by Loren D. Estleman
Valentino is an archivist searching for lost or missing vintage movies, including footage fragments from the silent era, for restoration and preservation. The search for lost film, and his ongoing pet project of rebuilding the movie palace The Oracle, has led bodies to pile up and caused him to sharpen his skills as a detective. In Vamp, Valentino is hot on the trail of Cleopatra, one of filmdom’s lost “Holy Grail” movies. While he searches, a new project arises: restoring The Comet, a defunct drive-in movie theater that needs to be modernized. A blackmailer offers the money to save The Comet, and Valentino must navigate the seedy and deadly underbelly of Hollywood if he wants to save the theater and find his missing film.
(Read the review)
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