In THE GLAMOURS DEAD the Dream Factory is the setting and one of the biggest stars of "The Golden Age" of Cinema, Barbara Stanwyck offers to help a movie extra, Penny Harper solve the murder of Penny's best friend Rosemary.

The time is 1940 and Barbara Stanwyck is making one of her greatest and funniest movies, THE LADY EVE.. The inner workings of the Hollywood Dream factory are set out for everyone to see the ruthlessness and backstabbing that goes on.

There's lots of Hollywood trivia, and descriptions of locations that were once the meeting places of the stars, is fun to read.

Penny and Rosemary were roomies, but they had secrets. The mystery is interesting, and Stanwyck is a real plus for the novel.

*thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

1 star

DNF @28%

Im so sorry but this just bored me. As much as I wanted to, I could not get into it. It's SUCH a shame because the description sounded pretty good and I just love the cover! Hopefully others enjoy this more than I did.

1940's Hollywood. A murder mystery. And an amateur sleuth trying to clear her name in the murder of her friend. I really enjoyed this novel. 3.5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of The Glamorous Dead.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a smart, sophisticated and witty original murder mystery.
It was very well written and the author had me actually believing that I was in Hollywood in the 1940’s.
I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

I have to be honest, this book just did not work for me. I am a fan of Hollywood and it's heyday, so I was very happy to receive this book. This book left me confused many times. This was due to the style of writing and the narration. It just never flowed. I kept finding myself going back and re-reading parts due to the confusion. The synopsis of this book had me so ready for this book. I had to put the book down and come back to it hoping that it would pick up, but alas, it did not for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publsher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I enjoyed this even though the writing style left me a bit cold in places. Evocative of 1940s Hollywood & a good plot which keeps you guessing whodunnit & why...

Thank you to NetGalley, Suzanne Gates, and Kensington Books for allowing me to read and review The Glamorous Dead. I thought that this book was just alright and I'm sad to say that it didn't really hold my attention well.

The Black Dahlia + You Must Remember This = The Glamorous Dead.

The 1940's and Hollywood have been done, several times. I think I've read 4 different books in that time period/setting this year. The Glamorous Dead visits this era and tries to evoke a sense of terror and dread on the mystery of pink fingernailed thumb.

There's details of backlots and morgues and an actual Big Time Movie Star (Barbara Stanwyck). I wanted to like this book. I really did, but the characters left me bored and I feel like I rushed through this just to find out who did it.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this ARC.

Old Hollywood at its creepest. Murder, intrigue, and villains gallore with a few good ones thrown in.

A great story, and a great look at the golden age of Hollywood studios and its stars. Features Barbara Stanwyck and a host of mesmerizing characters, and a captivating mystery.

As featured in the Esotouric bus adventures newsletter 11/3/2017 and on our Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles Facebook page

RECOMMENDED READING: Occasionally, one of our gentle riders lets slip that they're working on a book about the city. And the newest volume on that shelf is Suzanne Gates' just-released 1940s Hollywood murder mystery The Glamorous Dead, a grim tale of extras on the make, buried secrets and film star Barbara Stanwyck's odd fascination with the heroine's troubles. Set against the backdrop of the making of Preston Sturges' comic masterpiece The Lady Eve, and scrupulously researched at the Academy library, Paramount and LAPD archives and on our tour bus, this debut is a wild ride.

A book that transports the reader to the glamour of Hollywood and the film industry set in the golden era of the 1940,s when the film directors and the system had overall power on the destination of their stars.
It is into this romantic illusion of Hollywood that Rose and Penny decide to try their luck but all is not what it seems.
Beautifully written evocative of the era and well researched .
A crime novel with a difference

I was unable to make it past 45%in the boom. I had a very hard time with the main character,Penny. Sadly, I put this down several times and decided to stop reading.

The story takes place in 1940 in Hollywood. Penny Harp, an actress wannabe, has found herself in a middle of a murder investigation. Two of her friends have been murdered, and Penny suspects that both deaths are somehow connected. Barbara Stanwyck befriends Penny during the making of one of the movies, and helps her to find the truth. During the investigation, Penny discovers non-glamorous and dark secrets about her friends, her brother and her employer - Paramount. The last secret holds everything together. Penny later discovers that Paramount likes to "fix" any problems that come upon the company or people that work there. Penny questions everything and everyone and is eager to learn the truth, but the truth can cost Penny her life. Will she let Paramount "fix" her or will she end up just like her friends?

I liked the idea of the story, the place and the time when it took place. However, my opinion only, the books is way too long, too many characters and way too many background stories. I had a very hard time focusing on the book and follow the storyline.

Try this if you have an interest in 1940s Hollywood. Penny enlists Barbara Stanwyck to help her clear her name in the murder of her friend Rosemary. There's a lot of cultural references from the time period as well as movie trivia. It's well written but might not appeal to everyone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I received The Glamourous Dead by Suzanna Gates from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a difficult book to read. In all honesty I DNF’d it (which is a once in a blue moon kind of thing for me). I really wanted to like this book too. I loved the cover, I loved the summary, the mystery and the glitz and glam that it promised but I didn’t really get any of that. I’m a huge fan of historical mysteries.

The writing style threw me off. I felt like I got whiplash from how quickly and randomly the direction would change. I felt like there was a lot of information we as readers were expected to already know about these characters and how they live their lives. I understood they were filming and that they were extras but okay.
Penny, who is the narrator, threw me off. I understood the shock value of Rosemary’s death. But there was something extremely off about her. How she acted, how she spoke, how she was in general. The dialogue was written in a way I would have to go back and read sections over again in order to comprehend what I was reading. I normally read in one pass and everything clicks. This was not that.

The thrill factor and mystery failed to hold my interest.

**I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

It’s rare that I don’t finish a book, and given that I received this in exchange for a review, it pains me to not finish. I just can’t go on with this book though. I’ve plodded through 35% of the story and enough is enough.

The characters are leaden, flat, and plain uninteresting. I feel nothing for them and by this point of a novel I should be invested deeply in them. The story itself is plain confusing. Penny is accused of murdering her best friend and yet no one around her seems to care. She continues to live in the same house with all her other roommates and yet none of them care that Rosemary is dead? All they care about is advancing their careers and wearing her clothes? I understand driving ambition but that is a bit much. Also, if the police are so convinced of her guilt why is Penny so calm? Why is she using a divorce attorney for a criminal defense lawyer? I’m not a lawyer but I’m certain one can’t simply cover for the other.

I loved the premise and the cover was reminiscent of The Black Dahlia. I wanted to love this story. Unfortunately the execution was disappointing and will not continue reading this disjointed novel.

As I did not finish the book I would normally withhold a rating, but since NetGalley requires one it will have to be 1 star.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this ARC,

Hollywood will never seem the same to you again. Corruption, back stabbing, and murder plus glamour, love, and freindship.

Thank you so much to Kensington Books for giving me an ARC of The Glamorous Dead by Suzanne Gates via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry but 1/5. I DNF it on 36% and I never DNF any book, but this. I tried, I tried so much, but this just didn’t pull me. I do not recommend this for people who has no idea what’s happened in 1930s/1940s Hollywood.

Yes, I know I picked up a book set in 1930s Hollywood. Yes, I know it’s going to deal with things I do not know (aside from brunettes and blondes in curly bob hairstyles). I only knew a bit of that era and wanted to learn more, but I only learned a bunch of words that didn’t make any sense to me. It seemed interesting but the author did not explain what those nicknames are and what they are doing. Obviously they are shooting for some kind of film, and they are extras and all that, but I was still in a loss.

Another reason I didn’t finish this was I didn’t feel any suspense or/and thrill that this book promises. It’s a mystery/thriller book after all. The book immediately starts with Rosemary’s body being found told by our narrator and main character, Penny, Rosemary’s best friend. The author lays out possible suspects and try to play and confuse the reader from finding the real suspect, but it just fell flat for me. I didn’t even have any interest to know who the real suspect is. It may be contributed to the narration. I didn’t feel any connection on Penny, she sounded so distant and rigid. I can’t feel any of her hate, remorse, sadness, nothing. I can’t even sympathize with her. She was bland and flat to me.

The writing was also odd, for me anyway. I feel like I’m missing something. There are not enough descriptions and it makes you feel lost. The dialogues are weird, the characters talk about two subjects at a time without any pauses and it just confuses you. Do they talk like that back then? I don’t think so. Penny is accused of murder and no one seems freaked out. They just hate her, that’s it. And when a cop chases you in a subdivision for rich people when you’re accused of murder, you should freak the hell out, but no, she just chats with drunk Madge about her family and lets the girl puke in a bush of someone popular while she daydreams of her First Mother. I do not get it at all. And despite her being a “murderer” she is still able to work? WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHY DOES NOBODY CARES.

I never felt any thrill, suspense, or interest. I really tried hard to connect and get myself interested and immersed but I was seriously just in a loss I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to stop reading.