The Silver Blonde. Elizabeth Ross. 2021. [July] 400 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence from the prologue: Step into a picture house on a sunny afternoon, and you can suspend time.
Premise/plot: The Silver Blonde is a young adult historical novel--a mystery--set in Hollywood in 1946. Clara Berg, our heroine, begins off as a 'vault girl' at Silver Pacific Studios. Within a chapter or two, she's been moved to an assistant (perhaps assistant assistant) editorial job. She'll be learning how to edit film footage, and she's thrilled. Thrilled but also distracted....
For on her LAST day as a vault girl she makes a gruesome discovery in the vault. A blonde has been strangled! She's dressed up in the clothes of the film star, Babe Bannon, and at first that is what everyone thinks: the star of the current film in production has been murdered at the studio!!! DRAMA. SCANDAL. FOUL PLAY. EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT.
But the victim isn't Bannon...which begs about a million questions. Clara is fascinated by the case. True, she discovered the body. But her fascination goes beyond that...it becomes almost personal. Can Clara do a better job solving the case than the police?
My thoughts: I found The Silver Blonde to be a compelling read. I loved the Hollywood setting. It is set in 1946, World War II is fresh on everyone's mind--everyone is still so impacted/effected by the war. Including Clara's potential-potential love interest, Gil, a screen writer. I love that mental health is front and center in this one with so many of the characters. I love it as a mystery. I think the book does a good job of presenting five to eight potential suspects: the characters are fleshed out, clues are given, Clara AND READERS must put on their thinking caps. I feel there is depth and substance--in other words--LAYERS which is essential in any good mystery. It has in one of its layers a possible romance...but it isn't too much, too fast.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment