Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J Mann is a great pick for those who are big fans of old Hollywood. Mann packs a heaping 480 pages worth of true Hollywood murder mystery into this noir-esque true story centering on the murder of 1920s film director William Desmond Taylor.
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| Tinseltown, by William J Mann |
While the "who done it?" portion of the story is a little slow moving, you have to applaud Mann for the amount of research he must have done to write this book. And it's only slow moving because of the amount of background and detail Mann provides. As a reader, you find yourself engaged in the story to the point where you almost forget everything you are reading really happened. So it's a true story that reads like fiction.
Tinsletown name drops 1920s Hollywood stars left and right so if you are a fan of old Hollywood history, this would be a great addition to your book collection. As someone with very little knowledge of old Hollywood, I came away feeling like this book thoroughly indoctrinated me in the subject matter. It's the 1920s equivalent of TMZ!
My only complaint about the book was that I found myself having to stop very frequently to Google the "characters" in the book so I could 1) put a face with the name and 2) get a little more background on who the Hollywood players of the 20s were. It would've been nice if there were photos in the book.
All in all, this is a good read for anyone who has an interest in mysteries and 1920s Hollywood. You will come away with lots of knowledge of Hollywood in its Heyday!
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book for review. The opinions stated within this review were my own and were provided without compensation.
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