"Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made. But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group-each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers-that call themselves the Ambassador's Club. Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back."--

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"Glamorous and suspenseful." —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author

Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made.

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group—each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers—that call themselves the Ambassador's Club.

Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back. 

"This vibrant, utterly delightful mystery expertly captures the drama, glamour and absurdity of wartime Hollywood. Sarah James's swift dialogue, dry wit and clever characters transport you into a 1940s movie, where the jokes are quick, the love affairs scandalous and the cast as charming as they are flawed." —Brianna Labuskes, author of The Librarian of Burned Books

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Hollywood might look like an oasis from the devastation of WWII, but that doesn't mean it's safe... Hollywood, 1943: Annie Laurence moves from New York to Hollywood to start her new life as a murder mystery screenwriter—only to learn that the controlling studio head thinks women can only write light romances. To get a foot in the door, Annie starts volunteering at the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen run exclusively by industry members. Her second night at the Canteen, however, a particularly vicious critic is murdered. Annie sees a chance to prove her worth as a mystery writer by solving the case, and she chronicles her investigation in an anonymous magazine column—even as other club members, including herself, become targets.