Review by Linda Kay Hardie

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

In Round Up the Unusual Suspects, Elizabeth Crowens is back with another fun and insightful murder mystery romp through the glamorous, mythical heyday of the old Hollywood studio system. Once again joining actress-turned-detective Babs Norman to chase villains through Warner Brothers Studio and its backlots are Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, along with other stars of yesteryear.

The story takes place in the early days of USA involvement in World War II, when Babs and her detecting partner Guy Brandt (also a former actor) take on a case for studio head Jack L. Warner. A stagehand has been found dead on the set of the patriotic movie Yankee Doodle Dandy. Was the dead man with a German name a Nazi?

Paranoia intensifies. More bodies are found. During the murder investigation, Babs is hiding her friend Mr. Otake, who’s in danger of being shipped to a concentration camp in the American southwest desert where Japanese people, even if they’re US citizens, are unconstitutionally imprisoned. Meanwhile, Guy and his boyfriend hide their relationship, fearing being arrested (or worse) for being gay.
Crowens subtly and deftly draws parallels between these WWII bigotries and modern times, where people (with ethnic, racial, gender-norm, sexual-orientation, and other differences) who are not part of the white, cishet majority are once again seen as fair game for violence and illegal imprisonment.

But the story is more than grim comparisons to today’s issues. The frenzied action also playfully shines a light on the chaos of those old days when the studios reigned supreme and actors toed the line. Yet, even while filming Casablanca, Bergman and Bogey play hooky between takes to assist Babs and Guy with the investigation. Discovering the truth is especially difficult in these historical war-torn times in bigger-than-life Hollywood. Directors are temperamental, studio heads want instant results without bad publicity, and acclaimed crime writer Dashiell Hammett is drinking heavily again, slowing down work on script rewrites.

Cranking up the whimsical frenzy is the madcap menagerie owned by the detective heroes: an Irish wolfhound mix named Sir Henry of the Baskervilles, a bulldog named Bruno, and the two blue hyacinth macaws (Petunia and Pedro) received as payment for a case.

With everything involved here, you can’t count on the usual ideas and procedures doing the job. You’ve got to Round Up the Unusual Suspects instead.

https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/round-up-unusual-suspects-by-elizabeth.html