Bye Bye Blackbird

Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mystery, #2

by

Elizabeth Crowens

A bizarre mystery and murder set during Hollywood's Golden Age threatens the filming of The Maltese Falcon.

Bye Bye Blackbird is the second in author Elizabeth Crowens's Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mystery series featuring PI partners Babs Norman and Guy Brandt. The story opens on July 4, 1941. The war is on in Europe, and principal photography on the film, The Maltese Falcon, has just started when a dead woman tumbles into the reception area of B. Norman Investigations. As Babs, Guy, and Wiggins, the property caretaker, await the police, Humphrey Bogart arrives with a bizarre mummy-wrapped crow in an Egyptian canopic jar that was left at the front door of his home that morning. A similar bird is found to be tucked inside the dead woman's clothing, and the following day, Mary Astor, Bogart's co-star in the film, receives one at her home as well. Babs and Guy are hired to discover who is behind the creepy deliveries and why. 

Babs and Guy, the two friends and partners, are a fun duo to watch as they conduct a well-structured investigation on their way to finding the truth. Babs still struggles to be taken seriously as a PI (even by her mother), while Guy is constrained from revealing his true nature. I enjoyed their brother-and-sister style relationship, their closeness, camaraderie, and constant bickering. I worried about Bab's decision to get involved with Detective Felix Allgood to gain him as a sympathetic source of insider information eventually. He was smarmy and more, and something just didn't feel right.

 The plot moves steadily forward as Babs and Guy must work their case around the activities of the two Hollywood police detectives, and there are few clues to jump-start the process. Starting from scratch, they interview Bogart's fellow castmates and others involved with the making of the film as the dead birds and the appearance of the dead woman seem to mirror aspects of its story. Their suspect list reads like a Hollywood's "Who's Who," and the individual interviews, with the likes of John Huston, Sidney Greenstreet, and character actor Elisha Cook, Jr., to name a few, are full of Hollywood gossip, trivia, and history. Slowly but surely, the story comes out. 

I recommend BYE BYE BLACKBIRD to readers of historical cozy mysteries, fans of the previous novel in the series, and those who are interested in stories featuring filmmaking or the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.