When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, murder mystery playwright 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.

This was a great historical mystery with a spunky female lead. I really enjoyed it. It was well-written and easily digestible.

Okay to say I'm obsessed with this book would be an understatement!! WOW!

It's 1943 and Annie Laurence moves to Hollywood after a tough breakup, to hopefully start a new life writing for the movie industry.

However, things start to turn sour whenever her new "friend" and movie critic, who seems to have had a little bit of dirt on everyone, is found murdered.

Suddenly everyone in the Ambassador's Club group is a suspect.
A brick gets thrown in Annie's apartment, things start to go missing and suddenly the murder gets pinned on Annie.

It turns out that solving a murder in real life is definitely a lot harder than writing one for the stage.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is one hell of a drama filled ride and I give nothing but high praises for theis book.

I love this time period. I love Hollywood glamour. And I love the idea behind this entire book. The mystery mixed with the glamour I love really sucked me in and I found myself flying though this book in just a few days. Of course, bummed that it was already over. I'm hoping this won't be the last we see of the Hollywood Canteen!

Book review: Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen- Sarah James


Annie Laurence is a New York City playwright who finds herself without a job. Her highly acclaimed murder mystery comes to an abrupt end when her co-stars, and “closest friends,” Adam and Beaverly leave together to pursue brighter lights. On the brink of “losing it” and feeling sorry for herself, Annie gets a call from Pacific Studios. She’s offered a job as a screen writer, and three days later she finds herself starting over - in Hollywood! Shortly after arriving, Annie meets the exceptionally critical gossip columnists and film critic, Fiona Farris. Annie is befriended by Fiona and her circle of friends, who call themselves the “Ambassador’s Club.” But all is not well, one night Fiona is found murdered in the Hollywood Canteen. In a town where everyone has secrets, someone has made sure Fiona would never write again. When it becomes evident that the police are not going to investigate Fiona’s death, Annie turns amateur sleuth. But has she now put a target on her back?

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is a quick paced murder mystery. Set in 1940’s Hollywood, a golden era for big movie studios and gossip columnists who could make or break careers. Read it for a nostalgic trip back to a time of big bands and GI blues, for its colorful characters, witty banter, scandalous love affairs or just for the murder mayhem.


My thanks to @The_SarahJames, @Bookmarked and @NetGalley for the gift of this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The 40's, Hollywood glamour and murder. This historical mystery transports the reader to the night life of movie stars during the golden age of Hollywood. A time where they partied all night long, and competition was fierce for major movie contracts. One bad review could cost you your career or in this case your life. This whodunit had me guessing till the end with its edgy story.

This was a quick-read and its cast of characters were fun.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the complimentary copy.

Protagonist Annie was happily living in New York where she is working as a playwright. Her most recent show to open is a murder mystery with the stars of the production being her two closest friends. They are a couple and Annie is involved with both of them in what feels like a romantic way. The three are quite comfortable with one another until Hollywood comes calling for the actors. Crushingly, they leave Annie behind although she eventually makes her way to Hollywood as well.

Annie has gotten a job with Pacific pictures as a screenwriter, albeit one with a bit of writer’s block. When not struggling to write, Annie goes to the Hollywood Canteen as a volunteer and also is swept up in the wake of critic Fiona and her circle; they seem like a kind of snarky Algonquin circle. When Fiona is found dead, the plot moves forward.

This book has a terrific setting in the Hollywood of the 1940s. It also has a parade of famous names that readers will enjoy.

Will Annie be able to solve a real murder as easily as she could write about one as a playwright? Turn the pages of this title to find out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this title. All opinions are my own.

Set up during WW2 for servicemen and women heading overseas, the Hollywood Canteen was an entertainment centre run by volunteers from the entertainment industry from October 1942 until November 1945. Hugely popular, it offered free food, and entertainment from comedy to big bands as well as the chance to maybe meet or dance with a famous celebrity.

Playwright Annie Laurence, has arrived in Hollywood in 1943 to work as a screenwriter at Pacific Pictures, and joined the ranks of volunteers at the Canteen, making sandwiches and dancing. There she meets theatre and film critic Fiona Farris, generally despised by all in the industry for her caustic but witty reviews. However, she had once given a play of Annie’s on Broadway an unusually positive review, although she did hint at Annie’s ménage à trois with her leading actor and actress, something they had kept secret for years.

Soon Annie has fallen in with Fiona’s group of friends, who call themselves the Ambassador’s Club, each bitter and unhappy in some way about their careers. When Fiona dies from imbibing poison, the police investigate to determine if she committed suicide or was murdered, with each member of the club treated as suspects, especially Annie who used the same unusual source of poison in her Broadway play. This makes Annie determined to expose the killer, if she wants to avoid ending up in jail for murder.

With a background of the glamour and dazzle of Hollywood, this is an engaging murder mystery. Although life is not all glitter and glamour for those working in the industry and life on the film set is shown to be hard work for all involved. Heavy drinking is almost obligatory and the use of drugs is rife to keep actors and writers alert and productive during the day and switched off at night. Private lives are also strictly controlled by the studios with fake marriages and ‘wholesome’ hobbies.

Although the novel gives a good sense of what the Canteen was like, we only really see it through the small numbers of characters who form the Ambassadors Club. I would have enjoyed more historical context about how WW2 affected the lives of those living in LA and how the servicemen and women felt about visiting the Canteen. It would also have been interesting to have more vignettes of stars who performed there. Nevertheless, this is a fun and entertaining murder mystery set against a fabulous backdrop.

LOVED THE HOLLYWWOD SETTING, BUT WASN'T CAPTURED BY THE MYSTERY

I absolutely love Golden Age Hollywood and binge watch all the old movies, so that was definitely the thing that first spoke to me about this book. I really liked the setting and seeing of the old stars - such as Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney - figuring as characters certainly helped the matter. The characters were also quite interesting. They are a group of snide, sarcastic and self-deprecating friends, who find themselves caught up in a murder. However, the central piece - the murder mystery - did not really manage to capture my attention. I was never really invested in the mystery or Annie's attempts at solving it.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is set in old Hollywood, and follows Annie, a writer, as she struggles to solve a murder within her new friend group. When her polyamorous relationship splits so the married couple can move to the west coast and become movie stars, Annie goes down a spiral of self-loathing and depression. An offer to come write for movies has her moving to the west coast as well, where she gets in with a new friend group and gets friendly with the most ruthless reviewer in town.

When that reviewer dies from a poisoned drink, the police assume it was a suicide, but Annie knows better. She investigates the crime herself, eventually bringing her and her friends under suspicion for the murder. In her search for the truth, Annie just might put herself right in the killer's path.

I gave Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen a four star rating because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend, but I wouldn't read it again. There are a lot of things I enjoyed about this story, including the setting, queer representation, and characters. I thought each character was nuanced and believable, which lent a sense of realism to the entire piece.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

Sarah James, you have written what will very likely end up being my favorite book of the year. It really has everything you could want from à book, mystery, non experienced crime solvers, betrayal, large consumption of alcohol, a cast of old Hollywood outsiders, and romance.

If you want to read something fun and unique, you found it with Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen.

This was a wildly entertaining historical mystery. With characters that are fresh and unexpected and snappy dialogue, this one is quickly paced with plenty of suspects. The drama of old Hollywood, and the sneaky ways of the studio system are also present. Very enjoyable to read and I thought the mystery was solidly crafted.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating look into the Hollywood studio system in the 1940s, with a cast reminiscent in some ways of the Algonquin Round Table, although there were some very stark stereotypes among them in this iteration. To make things interesting, there's a murder mystery thrown in, and the seamy side of the film business certainly comes through as well. I had no idea the Hollywood Canteen was a real thing, and the background given by the author at the end of the book was illuminating and not a little disturbing, in that it became clear how much it was (and I'm sure still is in the film business) about centering themselves and disregarding the world outside. The book in total was a tiny bit too long, it could have easily lost 50-75 pages and made for a smoother narrative - but overall well worth the read.

If you like film noir classics like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon and more, you might like Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen. Set during World War II in Hollywood, the book gives off all the noir feelings those classic movies had.

If you want to know what it was like in Hollywood during the war, this novel gives off all the vibes. The Hollywood Canteen was run by local studios and movie stars themselves because Los Angeles was the ship-off port for men headed to the Pacific war front. Annie, the main character, is a playwright/screenwriter who has just made her way to Hollywood, following her “close friends.” a married couple who were actors in Annie’s most successful murder mystery plays. I say friends because the throuple lived life clandestinely in New York, but one gossip columnist made references to the “unusual” relationship the group had. In order to squash the rumors, the couple quickly signs a deal with a movie studio and leave Annie behind, but she soon has her own deal and heads west.

While in Hollywood, Annie falls into the circle of friends surrounding the very same gossip columnist who tried to out her relationship, Fiona Figg. Fiona has plenty of hangers-on of misfits called the Ambassador’s Club. One night at the Hollywood Canteen, Fiona is found dead. Soon it comes out how she died, and it just so happens it was an unusual way of poisoning someone, the same way Annie wrote about in one of her hit plays. Naturally, Annie becomes a suspect.

The rest of the book follows Annie and her friends as they investigate Fiona’s murder to clear her name and find the real culprit. She has a tendency to jump to conclusions every time a new piece of evidence is unearthed, but on the whole, I enjoyed the investigation and the quirks of the Ambassador’s Club. If you pay attention close enough, you’ll figure out who the murderer was, but you can still enjoy the mystery. A solid 4-star book!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

For more reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

Such a glittery, fun read! Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is the perfect book to pick up when you're in a slump because this glamorous and wonderfully written thriller is a treat to read! I devoured it in a few days because James' writing is just THAT good

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this well done whodunit. This was a fun read--a glimpse into Hollywood life in the past--a world which I am not at all familiar with. A scriptwriter becomes a sleuth in a whodunit that kept me guessing. The cast of characters was intriguing and I would have liked to know and understand more about them. The main character lived an unconventional lifestyle (but perhaps it was conventional for the people in the book) and I would have liked to see a bit more exploration of that to fill out the whodunit aspect. I also loved the "victim" and I think she was best character of all even though she was killed off early. All, in all, an enjoyable book.

Fun mystery where you can hear the crooning of the 40s current up-and-comer while you're hot on the trail of the murder suspect of the moment. Solid story.

This was the perfect murder/mystery. I loved the old Hollywood setting; it was just perfect. The cast of character was dynamic and their dialogue was on point. This had my attention from beginning to end, which is sometimes hard to do. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful e-arc. 5 stars

After the rapid dissolution of her life in New York City, Annie Laurence takes a job at a movie studio in L.A. as a staff writer. Soon after she meets a group of former New Yorkers at the Hollywood Canteen, one of whom is the theatre and movie critic, Fiona Farris, whose snide remarks may have contributed to Annie's current situation. Annie is invited out for drinks and soon finds she may actually like these people, critic included. But just as soon as things start looking up, Fiona Farris dies. LAPD thinks it is an open and shut case, but as a murder mystery playwright, Annie believes there's more to it.

The writing in this book grabbed my attention immediately and didn't let go. I loved the banter and jokes between the central group of characters. They were all sharp, quick witted, and occasionally insufferable. . . but in a good way? I found them entertaining and while they were deeply flawed, I was rooting for them.

Murder mysteries are so challenging to do right. You need to give the audience enough information that they can make guesses along the way, while also holding enough back to keep the mystery interesting for the entire 300 pages. This book did that so well. I had a thought early on about who the murderer might be, but I was never sure until the reveal.

I don't know how many of you are historical fiction or murder mystery readers, but if any of this sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend it.

In 1943 Hollywood, where stars shine bright and dreams come true, you’ll follow the journey of Annie Laurence, a murder mystery playwright searching for her break in the industry. But when a despised film critic meets an untimely end at the glamorous Hollywood Canteen, Annie is thrust into a real-life mystery that’s more challenging than any script she’s written.

Get ready to meet the captivating and dramatic Ambassador’s Club, a group of celebrity friends with secrets and unique relationships. You’ll fall in love with their intriguing lives and the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood.

Inspired by the real Hollywood Canteen, where enlisted men and women found solace and entertainment during World War II, this book offers a glimpse into a bygone era filled with love affairs, laughter, and a riveting murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Prepare for a rollercoaster of emotions, humor, and a captivating story that’ll transport you to the heart of 1940s Hollywood. “Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen” is a must-read for all book lovers and history enthusiasts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

This was an enjoyable read and for everyone that loves Old Hollywood this one is for you. I will definitely be on alert for what Sarah James writes next!