Fans of James Ellroy nostalgic for his gritty, cynical take on postwar Hollywood in such noir classics as L.A. Confidential
and The Black Dahlia
should enjoy Edgar-finalist Abbott's second novel (after Die a Little
). The author uses a less-celebrated real-life crime—the disappearance of actress Jean Spangler from Los Angeles in 1949—as her hook to spin a downbeat tale about a journalist-turned-studio-flack, Gil "Hop" Hopkins. Hop was with Spangler, a stunner but a second-rate acting talent, the last night she was seen, and harbors guilt over leaving her in the company of a famous acting and singing duo, Marv Sutton and Gene Merrel, who have a reputation for rough play. Hop's efforts at amateur sleuthing unearth a blackmail ring and a possible mob connection to Spangler's disappearance. Abbott deserves credit for resurrecting this virtually forgotten case and concocting a plausible fictional solution to a true crime. (Jan.)
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Reviewed on: 11/20/2006
Release date: 01/01/2007
Genre: Fiction
Other - 256 pages - 9781847397362
Other - 256 pages - 9781416538516
Hardcover - 242 pages - 9780743291712
Hardcover - 367 pages - 9780786294848
Paperback - 242 pages - 9780743291729