I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dame Alice Hits Hollywood
by Allie Mahoney
Series: Dame Alice Mysteries #1
Series Rating:
Published by Wrenfield Books on May 23, 2023
Setting: Old Hollywood and Beverly Hills, circa 1937
Genres: Cozy Historical Mystery
Pages: 139
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
Goodreads
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
April 1937: When Penelope Greenleigh, assistant at Ten Spot Press, learns she'll be heading to Hollywood to supervise script changes on the set of Lady Irwin's Diamonds, she should be thrilled. Who wouldn't want to mingle with movie stars in sunny California?
But there's a catch: Penelope, 29 and from Cape May, New Jersey, has been asked to impersonate Dame Alice Cartwright, the world's bestselling mystery author, who's 47 and lives in Copley-on-the-Wold, England.
On the night Penelope arrives in L.A., Lady Irwin's lead actress disappears and a Harry Winston necklace goes missing. Soon, gossip columnist Hattie Holiday threatens to expose Penelope's deception, mobsters are coming after the film's boozy director, and worst of all, Dame Alice's script has gone from murder mystery to Fred and Ginger-style musical!
The action unfolds at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Trocadero, and hotspot Chasen's as Penelope works to solve the crimes alongside a handsome detective and a hapless studio flunky. Can she find the diamonds, the actress, and survive a wild week in Hollywood?
Dame Alice Hits Hollywood by Allie Mahoney is a marvelous mystery with a fun and dangerous spin on old Hollywood.
Will Dame Alice figure out why people and jewelry keep disappearing?
Our Sleuths
English mystery writer Dame Alice Cartwright, publishing assistant Penelope Greenleigh, gal Friday Molly Lopez, and studio production assistant Toby McBoil are investigating the disappearance of Hollywood citizens and stolen jewels by the Beverly Hills Burglar. They aren’t the group that you would expect to hang out together or solve a mystery together, and yet this is what they are doing. Our unlikely group seems to get the job done.
Dame Alice is from England, Penelope, and Molly are from New Jersey, and Toby is from Los Angeles. Their diverse backgrounds give them an angle into people others may not have. Dame Alice seems to know lots of people and is a known recluse. Penelope is doing what her boss tells her to do so she doesn’t lose her job in New York. Molly does whatever she needs to make ends meet in Los Angeles. Although she is not an actress, she knows the actors and actresses and occasionally parties with them when she isn’t handling their needs at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Toby works for a producer and at his family drug store. He is also working on numerous tonics to fix your ailments.
I quite enjoyed following our group around for the most part. They meet a few odd characters and see things the normal twentysomething wouldn’t even consider. Adding Dame Alice into the mix gives them an edge that others don’t have. She has traveled quite a bit and knows many wealthy people from all over the place.
The Mysteries
We have the diamond necklace stolen the first night Penelope dressed as Alice is in Los Angeles. A missing starlet and wife of the soup mogul, who was seen fornicating with a foreign tennis pro, who may or may not be from a rich Argentina family. Then we have a shady movie producer with a gambling problem and some collectors on his trail. Barry King, a beer producer steadily rising to fame and fortune, also goes missing for a few days. Then we have the elusive Beverly Hills Burglar, stealing from the Hollywood crowd. A tabloid columnist, also a mooch, doesn’t tip and constantly demands more and more for free.
I loved all the twists and turns the author added to the posh Hollywood setting, and the different movie stars of the day. The story’s backbone is the wealthy folks who head to Hollywood to reinvent themselves. I love the constant name-dropping and the people that keep all the powerful people happy.
Five Stars
My rating for Dame Alice Hits Hollywood by Allie Mahoney is five stars, and I recommend it too. This is a brilliant book, and I look forward to reading this group’s next adventure in the South of France.
Giveaway
Prize: (10) Digital Copy – Dame Alice Hits Hollywood (Dame Alice Mysteries) by Allie Mahoney
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Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Dame Alice Hits Hollywood by Allie Mahoney. Check out the other stops and giveaway if you have time.
Until the next time,
About Allie Mahoney
A longtime magazine journalist, Allie Mahoney has written for Town & Country, Time Out New York, and Cosmo. A lifelong Agatha Christie fan, her shelves are also filled with the books of P.G. Wodehouse, Dave Barry, Sophie Kinsella, and Carl Hiaasen. Additional guilty pleasures: Classic Hollywood movies, fashion, dogs, Bravo tv, BritBox, Phillies baseball, and the beach.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Jenz 2023 Cloak and Dagger
- Jenz 2023 Craving the Cozies
- Jenz 2023 Cruisin' thru the Cozies
- Jenz 2023 Goodreads RC
Thank you SO much for this amazing review, Jen!! I appreciate your reading Dame Alice so much and I’m thrilled you had fun while in Old Hollywood with the Dame, Penelope, Molly and Toby. I wanted the story to be pure escapism and I’m so glad you felt that way!
Thank you!! All the best to you and your readers! 🙂 Allie Mahoney