Dame Alice Hits Hollywood:
A Cozy 1930s Mystery Featuring Author-Turned-Sleuth Dame Alice Cartwright
(Dame Alice Mysteries)
by Allie Mahoney
It is my pleasure to welcome Penelope Greenleigh
to Escape With Dollycas today!
Character Guest Post
Post by Penelope Greenleigh from Dame Alice Hits Hollywood
By Allie Mahoney
I can’t believe I’m in Hollywood!
It’s 1937, and the land of palm trees, stars, and sunshine is as far away as you can get from my hometown of Cape May, New Jersey. The whole town feels like one big film set, with Benny Goodman’s Stompin’ at the Savoy and Fred Astaire’s A Fine Romance pouring out of radios and handsome couples sipping daquiris in stylish nightclubs.
I, Penelope Greenleigh, lowly assistant at a New York City publishing house, feel like I’ve landed in Top Hat as I look around swanky Chasen’s restaurant.
Incidentally, I’m here in disguise as Dame Alice Cartwright, who’s 47 and hails from England. The Dame is the world’s bestselling author of mysteries set in English manor houses, and she’s refused to leave the Cotswolds and come to Hollywood, where she’s needed for script revisions on Lady Irwin’s Diamonds.
That’s how I came to be here, dressed as the Dame, instead of my usual job typing manuscripts at her American publishing house. I’m also two decades younger than the Dame, but since I’m wearing a brown wool sweater and loafers, few people have looked closely at me. The only folks in town who seem to be onto the fact that I’m not the British author of Murder on the Village Green are gimlet-eyed gossip columnist Hattie Holiday and a handsome detective by the name of Jake Chu.
But even in a wig and tweeds, my week in L.A. is a total thrill! Take last night, when I stepped off the train from New York and an hour later was at Chasen’s to meet with the director of Lady Irwin’s Diamonds. The film is based on the Dame’s latest book, but production hasn’t been going well. And now, just as dinner has arrived at Booth 7, a priceless necklace has disappeared, and so has Lady Irwin star Zsa Zsa Le Coque.
Unfortunately, I’ve just witnessed Zsa Zsa in flagrante with a dashing young Argentinian aristocrat—a man who’s definitely not her mobster husband. Did one of the two men take off with Zsa Zsa and the diamonds? Why does movie director Skipper Farley seem so eager to cancel production on Dame Alice’s movie? And why is this skirt so itchy? Still, things aren’t all bad. I’m staying with my childhood pal Molly in her adorable rented cottage at the Beverly Hills estate of an oil heiress, who’s invited us to lunches and parties all over town.
On the downside, Zsa Zsa’s husband seems determined to kill his wayward wife and her assorted boyfriends; Lady Irwin’s director owes a lot of cash to a gangster; and if production is cancelled on the movie, Dame Alice is out $25,000 and I’m sure to be fired. But I’ve always been the optimistic type, so here’s hoping I can solve the crimes, stay employed, and maybe even dance the rumba with that handsome detective before I head back home!
Thank you Penelope for visiting today.
Keep reading for my thoughts about Dame Alice Hits Hollywood!
About Dame Alice Hits Hollywood
Dame Alice Hits Hollywood (Dame Alice Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Old Hollywood and Beverly Hills, circa 1937.
Wrenfield Books (May 23, 2023)
Digital Print length : 139 pages
ASIN : B0C666Z731
April 1937: When Penelope Greenleigh, assistant at Ten Spot Press, learns she’ll be heading to Hollywood to supervise script changes on the set of Lady Irwin’s Diamonds, she should be thrilled. Who wouldn’t want to mingle with movie stars in sunny California?
But there’s a catch: Penelope, 29 and from Cape May, New Jersey, has been asked to impersonate Dame Alice Cartwright, the world’s bestselling mystery author, who’s 47 and lives in Copley-on-the-Wold, England.
On the night Penelope arrives in L.A., Lady Irwin‘s lead actress disappears and a Harry Winston necklace goes missing. Soon, gossip columnist Hattie Holiday threatens to expose Penelope’s deception, mobsters are coming after the film’s boozy director, and worst of all, Dame Alice’s script has gone from murder mystery to Fred and Ginger-style musical!
The action unfolds at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Trocadero, and hotspot Chasen’s as Penelope works to solve the crimes alongside a handsome detective and a hapless studio flunky. Can she find the diamonds, the actress, and survive a wild week in Hollywood?
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Bestselling mystery author, Dame Alice Cartwright has one of her books, Lady Irwin’s Diamonds, being made into a movie and her presence has been demanded by the Hollywood powers that be for any rewrites necessary. Well, she has no intention to travel from Copley-on-the-Wold, England to California so her publisher makes arrangements with one of their employees to impersonate the Grand Dame. It’s not going to be as easy as the publisher thinks but 29-year-old Penelope Greenleigh, from Cape May, New Jersey will do her best to be as much like the British woman almost 20 years her senior as she can.
Penelope’s first night in L.A. is filled with all kinds of drama when the movie’s lead actress goes missing at the same time as a necklace from Harry Winston disappears. It also appears that Penelope’s impersonation is going to be revealed by gossip columnist Hattie Holiday. If that isn’t bad enough the movie’s director has decided to turn the production into a musical complete with song and dance numbers. The publisher and the real Dame Alice are going to be furious.
Penelope has her work cut out for her. Can she keep her identity hidden while trying to track down a missing actress and the diamonds? This trip sure isn’t anything like she thought is would be.
Hollywood 1937, the movies were in black and white, and Greta Garbo, Loretta Young, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and more were in the starring roles. Penelope Greenleigh hits the scene and tries to pull off her own acting job with the help of her friend Molly. Toby McBoil, a now-fired studio production assistant and tonic inventor gets involved when they try to find the missing actress and the diamonds. This leads to some wildly funny moments.
The story opens up further when the missing diamonds are linked to other missing items taken by the Beverly Hills Burglar. Penelope was doing whatever she could to keep her job, Molly had the Hollywood contacts, and Toby was the gullible guy, up for anything to get his job back. We also have gossip columnist Hattie Holiday, beer producer Barry King, and soup mogul, Morty La Coque. All the characters in this story are cleverly created and each is quirky in their own right.
The mysteries were well-plotted and all flowed with ease. Each has unique twists and turns. Whether it be missing diamonds, a missing person, a couple of shady producers, movie and beer, or the Beverly Hills Burglar all come together in a fun and entertaining way.
I really enjoyed traveling back to the old days in Hollywood and the name-dropping that was done. It was also great to take in all the old haunts of The Brown Derby and The Beverly Hills Hotel of yesteryear. Oh, and the clothes, detailed descriptions created wonderful images in my mind. The author captured the time period perfectly.
I love old movies, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney, David Niven, Myrna Loy, William Powell, the list could go on and on. I remember watching the movies with my mom for years and now when I watch them I have such wonderful memories. This story invoked similar memories as it played out just like one of those old movies.
Dame Alice Hits Hollywood
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About Allie Mahoney
A longtime magazine journalist, Allie Mahoney has written for Town & Country, Time Out New York, and Cosmo. A lifelong Agatha Christie fan, her shelves are also filled with the books of P.G. Wodehouse, Dave Barry, Sophie Kinsella, and Carl Hiaasen. Additional guilty pleasures: Classic Hollywood movies, fashion, dogs, Bravo tv, BritBox, Phillies baseball, and the beach.
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Great Escapes Praise for Dame Alice Hits Hollywood:
A Cozy 1930s Mystery Featuring Author-Turned-Sleuth Dame Alice Cartwright
(Dame Alice Mysteries)
by Allie Mahoney
My rating for Dame Alice Hits Hollywood by Allie Mahoney is five stars, and I recommend it too. This is a brilliant book, and I look forward to reading this group’s next adventure in the South of France
~Baroness’ Book Trove
If you’re a fan of cozies, classic movies, musicals, and madcap comedy (and don’t mind a bit of language), you’ll be a fan of Dame Alice Hits Hollywood! I definitely recommend it and will read more of the series!
~Christy’s Cozy Corners
Reminiscent of the screwball comedies of the time DAME ALICE HITS HOLLYWOOD is a fast-paced entertaining mystery. Grab a cocktail and pretend to listen to The Beverly Hills Off-Duty Policeman’s Jazz Quartet and settle in for a good time!
~Cozy Up With Kathy
5 stars! Dame Alice Hits Hollywood, the debut book in author Allie Mahoney’s new historical cozy mystery series, the Dame Alice Mysteries, is a fun and glamorous story lifted straight out of the star-studded Golden Age of 1930s Hollywood. I recommend DAME ALICE HITS HOLLYWOOD to readers of historical cozy mysteries, especially those with a soft spot for the Golden Age of Hollywood.
~Guatemala Paula Loves To Read
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
“Dame Alice” is fortunate to be before Americans really knew what a proper Brisitsh accent sounded likel
Dame Alice Hits Hollywood sounds like a fun mystery. I look forward to reading this book. Thanks for sharing.