An intriguing look at the drama and irreverence of 1940s Hollywood. Loved the honest (yet disappointing) depiction of historical queer relationships. Has inspired me to take a closer look at wartime Hollywood.

Thank you so much @bookmarked and @netgalley for an advance copy of this book!

✨ 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 ✨
Oh I love reading any stories about this time in history! This is 1943 Hollywood where the story centers around the famous Hollywood Canteen (yes a real place) which is a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. How fun, right?!

This story centers on playwright Annie Laurence, new to town and determined to meet the right people and hopefully get a movie made. When a film critic ends up dead in the Canteen kitchen, fingers point to Annie and her new group of friends in the “Ambassadors Club”. Annie typically writes murder mysteries and thinks she can help solve the mystery of whodunnit before one of them gets the blame!

Did I mention I love this time period? The author did her homework on all of that for this story! The characters quick banter back and forth were very spot on for that time period and location. Most of these characters were very self-centered, which fits in with the Hollywood persona. They won’t hesitate to throw each other under the bus.

I also love a good murder mystery, so with that and the time period I was all for this story. I would love to read more stories like this one!

✨ 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🖤 Old Hollywood Era Stories
🖤 Fictional Stories Based on Real Events
🖤 Historical Fiction
🖤 Murder Mystery Whodunnit

An historical murder mystery with a difference - this book will keep you guessing until the very end.

Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business.

Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made.

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group―each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers―that call themselves the Ambassador's Club.

Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back.

Thank you to @netgalley #sarahjames and @bookmarked for an advanced copy.

A fascinating look at the Hollywood movie star scene of the 1940s during the war through the lense of a murder mystery. I loved the author's note and background for this book. I knew some of the entertainment industry's war effort or contributions by entertaining troops but this very specific glimpse at the Hollywood Canteen a place for servicemen to have a night of free food, drinks, entertainment, and dancing with Hollywood celebrities was very intriguing. The Canteen was staffed by the local studios, as well as the stars themselves. You never knew who might be present either making sandwiches or up for a dance on any given night.
This book starts outin New York when Annie Laurence a mystery playwright finds herself out of a job when her highly acclaimed play comes to an end since her personal relationship also just ended she takes a leap of faith and takes an offer from one of the big Hollywood studios to write for them.
Off she goes to tinsel town.
Eager to find people she ingratiates herself with a group surrounding a film critic she knows by reputation from New York.
This critic, Fiona Farris, gets murdered and it seems like everyone had it out for her, did she have any real friends?
There's glamour and glitter, there's history and a twisty investigation, which Annie takes on since she has started befriending all potential suspects. She sets out to prove her own innocence and find the real killer.
I loved this historical murder mystery - this was fun to read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book - thank you @bookmarked - opinions are of course my own!

I absolutely love this era, and was so excited to read a murder mystery set amongst the glitter and glammer. This was such a magical read, and hard to put down.

In "Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen," by Sarah James, 1943 playwright Annie Laurence, is heartbroken and out of work, So, she moves to Hollywood and takes a job as a screen writer at Pacific Pictures. Annie quickly befriends a group of narcissistic hollywood insiders and feels that her life may be taking a turn for the better. This new life is quickly turned upside down as one of her new friends mysteriously dies. Although the police consider the case a suicide, Annie believes it to be a murder and convinces her new friends that they must find the perpetrator.

The only bad thing to say about "Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen" is that it eventually had to end. The reader sympathize for Annie and can get lost in the dynamics of this group of so-called friends. The story moves at a very healthy pace and continuously brings in new information and new dynamics to be considered. Although set in 1943, it's hard to ignore the intrigue and the gossip that seems to be more relevant in Hollywood now than back then. Last night at the Hollywood canteen is a solid book. A fun read and hard to put down.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC and the publishers

In this book, we see through the eyes of the main character and other characters The truth about Hollywood behind the veil, because everyone or most people see Hollywood as glamorous, mysterious, and a great life with riches galore especially back in the day. But the truth is that behind the veil is much more horrific than suspected when we look back at famous figures of the period we find it entertaining because we have that separation.

The main character Annie Laurence gets caught up in the glamour and the lifestyle but over time she sees what the cost is for what she.

While I was reading this I enjoyed the writing and also was intrigued by what was happening and I see this as worth a read

Although differences in plot, location, and crime, this felt similar to The Spectacular. Annie moves to LA to write for movies when a new acquaintance, Fiona, dies by suicide. However, she believes it was murder and she enlists in Fiona’s friends (the Ambassador’s Club) to help solve the case.

It did not read like historical fiction, both in the vernacular used and the culture portrayed. This takes place in 1943/44 at a bar for servicemen, and yet almost no time is dedicated to discussing WWII. Fiona was in a throuple at one point, Vic, one of the members of the Ambassador’s Club is gay, casual sex is openly discussed, and pill pushing is common at the production companies. All of this was written about with little to no scandal and yet it was the 1940s. It felt disingenuous to the time. You could have told me this happened in the 1990s and I would have believed it.

A murder mystery full of the glamour and glitz of Hollywood during the 1940s. Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is a fascinating dive into the difference between what characters want you to see and what actually happened. The book is filled with crime, suspense, romance and a huge pinch of fun as Sarah James leads her readers through a rollercoaster ride filled with twists and turns.

1940s Hollywood + murder? I was all in on this glamorous historical mystery set during Hollywood's golden age. It's a quick read that will keep you guessing until this last page and the zingy repartee is perfection!

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the copy to review.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Sarah James and SOURCEBOOKS landmark for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I actually finished this book a while ago during my holiday and forgot to leave a review on here, then got in a reading slump and haven't checked Goodreads in over a month. Not really an excuse but I still want to apologize for that. 🙈

3⭐- this book was a little so-so. I was excited to read this book because of the murder mystery taking place in Hollywood during the 1940's. The characters are likeable, interesting and a little sarcastic. For me personally the story had too many side stories, which got me distracted from the main storyline that is solving the mystery of Fiona's murder

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of this book and loved the time period it took place. The pacing was done so well and the end was great!

Quick and Dirty⁣
-LGBTQIA representation ⁣
-murder mystery ⁣
-WWII era home front fiction ⁣
-behind-the-scenes Hollywood studio info⁣
⁣
Thoughts⁣
What a wild, fun ride this was! Not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I was certainly shocked to find it was NOT what I got. And I mean that in the best way possible. Having a passion for Old Hollywood I’ve read and watched a lot of non-fiction about the era and the most famous celebs of the time, and this book definitely represented the tawdry and scandalous behaviors of the celebs, writers, and studio execs of the time. From the love triangle to the copious prescriptions, Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen got it right! The antics of the core group of “friends” were certainly lots of fun, but even better was the Los Angeles setting which featured some of the most famous/iconic locations of the era (and even of today). Who doesn’t love a culmination at the Hollywood Bowl (my fav place to see a live concert)?!? I loved the mystery and was fully invested in the whodunnit plot, along with the core storyline of Annie’s lost love and self-growth. Overall this was a ton of fun that I recommend for historical fiction fans who enjoy a solid mystery and some unusual characters!

I had a hot and cold relationship with this book. It was very slow paced at times and then suddenly it would pace fast and become interesting and exciting just to double down to slow pace. It happened several times that I was totally engrossed in the book and wanted to know what happens next but it would just lose its pace and the excitement would die down.

The writing is good. It gave me some —the secret history or if we were villains's character vibes. All hateful, no one to like or feel for , so basically dark academia vibes.

It's classic who dunnit based in Hollywood in between 1940-1950s. It gives insight into the glamorous life which can make you blind and raises the question of if anyone is really happy in the Hollywood or if they even have any morals left.

Overall a good story but I did not like the ending. The reveal was meh. There were many things that did not make sense. Annie was too fast to get to the conclusions and the last clue she got which led her to the murderer was really dumb. For a such a smart book the ending was totally off.

Thank you Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS landmark for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James combines old Hollywood glamour with a murder mystery for a delightful, fun read! The plotline was creative and unique with well-defined morally questionable characters, lots twists and turns, dark humor and great dialogue! I highly recommend and can’t wait to read more from Sarah James.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS ONE DOWN! This had all the makings of a classic whodunit and I flipped through the virtual pages so quickly my Kindle almost broke. I loved the mingling of real life celebrities with fictional characters and James did a wonderful job of walking the line of fact and fiction - in my mind, this could have actually happened at the famed Hollywood Canteen.

That being said, I didn't particularly love any of the characters aside from Jack - he reminded me of my favorite male celebrities of today (think Harry Styles with his pretty boy looks and his fear of commitment). Aside from the characters, I felt like there were some elements thrown in that didn't add to the storyline whatsoever aside from being "progressive" or "scandalous." However, I did appreciate the queer representation as I feel like being queer was far more common than we realize yet far more taboo in the golden age of Hollywood.

Lights camera action!!! Murder mystery x Golden Age Hollywood, say less!

It's one of the few murder mysteries that i really quite enjoyed.

I really loved all the details about Hollywood at that time, the glitter, the cameras, the backstabbing and the secrets! Most of the characters were relatable in their own way!

The dynamic of this friend group is something else. I laughed a lot in certain scenes!

Thank you Netgalley and Sarah James for this ARC!

I really enjoyed Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen. I’m a big fan of mid-century historicals, and the mystery element combined with the Hollywood storyline was super fun. There was a great combination of romantic and platonic relationship building and the dialogue is fast-paced and well-written. The characters are fleshed out very well, especially in the core group of the Ambassador Club. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a Hollywood story or a good mystery. I didn’t figure anything out before the end and it was a treat until the final page.

My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advance reader’s copy.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James was simply not my cup of tea.

After reading the premise I really thought that I would love this book but it unfortunatelly let me down.

First of all, I couldn't connect with any of the characters nor did I root for any of them. The main heroine was at times so annoying with her constant jumping to conclusions without any thinking.

There were a lot of red herrings, so many things were over the top, including the ending.
The story started strong and was engaging but slowly it started slowing down and dragging and it couldn't hold my interest.

What I liked about it was the fact that there was a lot of true facts about Hollywood of that time and it was was originally drew me to the story and that part didn't disappoint.

I absolutely loved the book. The suspense and the action was amazing.
The characters were too good.
The story is very interesting.
I liked Fiona's character - the most hated critic reviewer in Hollywood - giving anybody a reason to murder her.

I would like to thank the author arc.