by Sarah James

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In 1943, Annie Lawrence, a successful playwrite, finds that she is out of work when her play closes in New York City. She is depressed about a painful break-up too, so when Pacific Pictures offers her a job writing murder mysteries for their movie studio in Hollywood, she accepts the offer in hope of a fresh start. When she arrives she discovers that everyone working for the studios is required to volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen. Started by Bette Davis and John Garfield, the Hollywood Canteen was a place where servicemen could get sandwiches, drinks and dancing before they were sent to war. While there she runs into notorious gossip columinist Fiona Farris and her cynical group of entertainers. They meet regulary at the Ambassador’s Club so they called themselves the Ambassadors. They accept Annie into their group but the group and Hollywood aren’t what she was expecting. There is glamour and power but a dark side, too. When Fiona is found dead in the kitchen at the Hollywood Canteen, the police rule it a suicide but Annie is sure it isn’t. The police refuse to listen to her so she and The Ambassador’s begin to investigate on their own. However, the group begins to distrust each other because someon they know had to have been in the canteen kitchen with Fiona and killed her.

This book has witty dialogue, jokes and a fun mystery. The author brings in real life characters such as Bette Davis into the story. The author’s notes at the end of the book about the canteen and some of the entertainers who volunteered and performed there for the servicemen was really interesting. The Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen will be published on November 7, 2023. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced reading copy.