Absolutely fantastic story, so well told, and atmospheric. Really wonderfully told tale, will enjoy more by this author.

When I say that I just don’t know what to say about The Devil’s Playground, its not because I didn’t like the book, quite the opposite, I loved it. I just don’t know if I can truly portray this in a review. I loved Hyde by Craig Russell and for me this book went one step further in keeping me hooked as I delved into the mystery of 1920’s Hollywood and the making of a film that seemed beset with tragedy, mishap and mystery.
When lead actress Norma Carlton is found dead before the completion of The Devil’s Playground, studio fixer Mary Rourke is called in to smooth things over and do some digging into what happened. Mary is good at her job, but she soon has to change tack when the true cause of death comes to light. What she soon discovers is that someone will go to great lengths to keep things hidden and her job is not only difficult but dangerous with not only her life under threat.
Craig Russell has done a brilliant job transporting the reader back to the golden age of the silent movie just as Hollywood gets ready to embrace the new era of the “talkies”. The mystery behind the true power runs throughout the book and as Mary digs deeper and more people end up dead, the myth of the curse of the movie appears to be becoming a reality. The hint of the supernatural and the occult is always present, and its true origins can be seen in one of the multiple timelines that split the chapters. At first, I was not entirely sure how they would all come together but Craig Russell manages to weave all the different elements together to the book’s perfect conclusion.
I liked the tenacity of Mary Rourke, even when her life was in danger, she refused to let it stop her from her task, even when she was told to stop. For her it was as much about her professionalism as it was about understanding who wanted to cover up a murder and why. Through her we get to see the less glamourous side of the movie business; one the studios will do anything to keep hidden and with good reason.
If you like dark historical fiction with that little extra twist, then this is definitely the book for you

A sprawling novel of historical Hollywood glamour, movie history and gothic suspense.

1927, a dead Hollywood starlet and rumours abound that movie The Devil’s Playground is cursed.

1967, a film historian is determined to seek out the single surviving copy of said movie, who knows the possibly dangerous path his quest will take him on?

There’s plenty going on, plenty of historical detail and old time movie curiosities. Unlike anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed it overall, but as much for the curiosity and originality as actually being dragged along by the story.

A strange one to recommend but I know there are readers who’ll take great delight in this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an advanced copy of this book.

A standalone, dark gothic thriller that will leave you wanting more!

Fabulous read

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group U.K. Constable for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Devil’s Playground’ by Craig Russell.

I have long enjoyed Craig Russell’s writing including his Jan Fabel series of European police procedurals and his standalone Gothic thrillers: ‘The Devil Aspect’ and Hyde’. This latest novel was excellent.

It is another standalone dark thriller primarily set in 1920s Hollywood and is about “the greatest horror movie ever made", said to be cursed, and the search forty years later for the single copy of the film rumoured still to exist.

In 1927 Hollywood studio fixer Mary Rourke is called to the home of silent movie actress Norma Carlton, star of The Devil's Playground. The actress has been found dead and veteran police officer Pops Nolan knows who to contact in these tricky situations. Naturally Rourke tidies things up to protect her studio bosses, though she wonders if the dark rumours she's heard are true: that The Devil's Playground is a cursed production. Yet as certain inconsistencies come to light, Rourke decides that rather than covering up the truth she will seek it out not realising the potential dangers she will face.

In 1967 Dr. Paul Conway, film historian and silent movie aficionado, is on the trail of a tantalizing rumour: that a single copy of The Devil's Playground-a Holy Grail for film buffs may still exist. The trail leads to the Mojave Desert and an isolated hotel frozen in time. No further details to avoid spoilers.

Aside from these quests by Rourke and Conway, the narrative on occasion travels back to 1907 Louisiana where in the Bayou Leseuil Hippolyta Cormier has lived since 1889. The locals had long considered her a witch and both she and her thirteen year old daughter, Anastasie, the subject of rumours and speculation yet also desired for their beauty.

How the events in Louisiana link to 1927 Hollywood is slowly revealed by Russell in this excellent thriller tinged with supernatural horror.

Overall, with its occult themes combined with the glamour of the Golden Age of Silent Movies, ‘The Devil’s Playground’ proved a highly engaging read that delivered thrill, chills, and plenty of surprises.

Very highly recommended.

Craig Russell has done it again with this stunning stand-alone novel set in Hollywood. This is a dual timeline novel set in Hollywood in 1927 and Death Valley 40 years later, with occasional hops back to Louisiana at the turn of the Century.

The Devil’s Playground has gained notoriety as a cursed movie. Though it is said to be the greatest horror movie ever made, no-one really knows, because all copies were lost after it was made in 1927. Legend has it that the movie was cursed and that those who were involved in making it all came to a gruesome end. In 1967, Paul Conway, a film connoisseur and historian has been hired at great cost to see if he can find any surviving copy of the film.

Central to the 1927 section of the book is Mary Rourke, a dame who knows her way around Hollywood and who is retained by Carbine Pictures as a ‘fixer’ – someone who spends her days covering up the problems and misdeeds of the studio’s stars and other personnel and keeping the press away from any sniff of scandal. This is the era of silent movies, soon to make way to the ‘talkies’ and grand spectacle is what woos audiences in their droves.

Carbine Pictures is making an epic horror movie. The Devil’s Playground is a massive gothic movie, which is being billed as the greatest horror picture ever made. Mary’s good at her job and she has a few folk on her payroll who help her do it, including a doctor and a friendly police officer.

This is the golden age of Hollywood when stars reigned supreme. Lavish parties, glamourous stars and bad behaviour abound. Lavender marriages are commonplace and there’s even a much celebrated ‘Resurrection man’ in the form of agent Hiram Levitt, who will take a star and completely re-invent their backstory to make it both more alluring and also cover up any past problems.

Mary is called out one evening to the home of Carbine Pictures biggest star, Norma Carlton. She lies dead, in repose, in her bed alone in her massive mansion, save for one housekeeper. Mary does what she does best and in order to save the studio from scandal, she and her tame doctor and cop turn the whole thing into an accidental death. Except that Mary thought it was suicide and when she realises she has covered up a murder, it really impacts on her. She is relentless and nothing stands in the way of her getting to the root of what has happened – even when her life is put in danger.

Her tame police officer, LAPD’s Jake Kendrick, is pursuing another case; that of missing teenage girls who have come to Hollywood in search of their glittering career and who have vanished without trace. Mary offers to help him find out if any have obtained work through Carbine Studios.

Craig Russell has not only written a spellbinding story of the how the shine on the golden age of Hollywood is nothing but tawdry polished brass but he does so in a way that transports us to that time and setting. This is an atmospheric and richly described book that gets under your skin. It is tinged with a hint of Philip Marlow, a little of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a lot of Nosferatu with an overarching feel of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

A foray to another time takes us to the Louisiana swamp where a mother and daughter are living quietly, but tales of voodoo practices lead to tragic events and an abundance of death.

This thrilling and absorbing, dark, gothic storyline combines a murder mystery with sheer horror. It is beautifully done with class and style and is so well researched that every note rings true.

Verdict: The Devil’s Playground is intense, vibrant and enthralling. Rich in detail and so richly described, this is the kind of classic noir that doesn’t get much darker. There are some fabulous characters populating this book who add to the sense that Hollywood is nothing more than an artifice – an illusory, glittering façade; home to the venal and the corrupt. Russell weaves together three different timelines and locations in a seamless tale that is beautifully told, well plotted and packed with surprises. One of my books of the year.

4.25-4.5⭐️

I have to say this isn’t my usual type of read, it came highly recommended so curiosity got the better of me.

This Historical fiction is my first read by this author.
In 1967 Paul Conway a journalist and silent movie expert is tasked with seeking out the lost cursed movie called The Devil’s playground from the 1920’s. He tracks down the only surviving member of the time holed up in the middle of no where. Although this is initially presented as a golden era lost cursed film hunt, it becomes something much much more.

The writing style is quite individual, the language used fits the eras, there’s lots of detail so it feels authentic and well written, and totally believable. Although the golden era movie references were totally lost on me.

The story is revealed in split time frames. In 1927 Mary Rourke is the movie industry fixer hiding scandal.

In the beginning I didn’t think that this book was going to work for me, but once the storyline opened up it reeled me in slowly. It’s not a fast paced read despite the action element.

It has some very subtle elements of dry humour, it feels like insider humour, as if you’re part of the action.
The chapters tend to end on mini cliff hangers which increase the tension and anticipation.

There’s one particular scene where the description narrative is brilliantly written.

It felt like a mash up between an insight into the dark side of early Hollywood, early Agatha Christy, an Indiana Jones style action thriller, throw in a pinch of horror extract and you’ve got something very different with its own appeal.

If you’re up for something a bit different, I’d recommend giving it a go.

As with the other two books by this author that I have read - Hyde and The Devil Aspect - it's best to go in as cold as you can so you can experience all the delights this book promises, and delivers, as the author intends.
The blurb gives enough away to get the gist and I am not going to bother rehashing it here. Suffice to say that, and it's obvious by the 5 stars, I absolutely loved this book as much as I did the previous two.
Set in multiple timelines - in 1927 where we feature the fixer, and the present day 1967 the film aficionado searching for a lost masterpiece - the delights and sordid side of Hollywood are laid bare. I followed the two avidly, as the focus switched between them. As more of the past was exposed to make what is happening in the present make more sense. I found the investigation of the death of Norma Carlton both interesting and intriguing as both her professional and personal lives were equally shocking. I did guess one thing a tad early but no harm done there!
And then there's what happened in 1897... and 1907... where the malevolence really began. And the start of it all getting a bit convoluted and interconnected and the start of a guessing game for our fixer Mary as she starts to try and work out the whys and wherefores.
I say convoluted but that really doesn't mean that it's hard to read. It isn't, but I would advise that you have your wits about you and that you dedicate a chunk of reading rather than dipping in and out.
Characters are, well, mostly larger than life - it is set in and around Hollywood after all. But, that said, they are not caricatures. They are well described and all play their parts well.
And, now I have finished I am going to leave it a while and re-read. And I hardly ever do that. Which I guess marks it as something special.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I have read a few books by this author now and they have all been fantastic. This new one is no exception. A compelling murder mystery set mostly in Hollywood during the 1920s golden age of silent movies. The story is quite dark and deliciously Gothic at times and the atmosphere is very cinematic. There are lots of twists and turns and red herrings and plenty of misdirection. A wonderfully deep and engrossing book to get totally lost in and highly recommended.

I have reviewed The Devil’s Playground for LoveReading.co.uk, the book has been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month, see below for full review.

This was a new style of novel for me and I have to admit I was not convinced at first, but as the story progressed it became more and more addictive.
Expertly written with twists and turns all the way to the end this is a great read

Set in 1920s holiwood amid the golden age of Hollywood's silent movie era this book tells the story of The Devils Playground. The greatest horror movie ever made bit never seen by the public because of the curse that surrounds it.

This book is a must for any movie fan. Set against a backdrop of prohibition at a time when the studio bosses were the law this book lifts the veil on the world of studio fixers.

Even forgetting the main story of the book there is enough mentions of real life 20s stars (such as rudolph Valentino and gretta garbo) and real life scandles (Charlie chaplains underage marriage, fatty arbuckle) to keep you hooked.

I was gripped from the first page. The descriptions are so vivid I felt like I was watching a movie in my head as I was reading..

I absolutely love a book about films, especially horror films, and I love multiple timelines so I was excited about this one.

I really liked the “main plot” set in 1927 following Mary Rouke, a Hollywood studio “fixer” but I wasn’t interested in really any of the other plots.

By the end when the plots came together I was lost and confused and I didn’t feel like it all tied together as nicely as I would have liked.

I was watching a lot of old black and white films when I read this though which definitely added to it, I just think the plot could have been cleaner. I love the atmosphere though.

3.5 stars

I’ve been reading Craig Russell’s books for years. I was initially drawn to his books featuring Jan Fabel of the Hamburg Murder Squad and then a short series set on the gangster-ridden streets of Glasgow in the 1950s. These two series were equally strong but very different in terms of setting, timeframe and tone. But lately he’s stepped away from crime fiction novels to produce a group of books that are a complete departure from what’s gone before. The Devil Aspect is a Gothic horror story set in Czechoslovakia in 1935 and Hyde is a dark thriller set in Victorian Edinburgh. In truth, I loved the former but was a little less taken with the latter. So what to make of his latest tale, a mystery/thriller set in 1920s Hollywood?

The Devil’s Playground is reputed to be the greatest horror film ever made, a film that was also said to have cast a curse on everyone involved in its making. Finished in 1927, it was one of the last big films made in the silent movie era. But alas all copies of the film are reported to have been lost, hidden or destroyed. Forty years later, Paul Conway, a film historian and journalist, is hired to track down what might just be the only copy of the film in existence. Such is its value, he’s been offered a huge sum if he can complete this task.

We follow Conway’s quest as he potentially closes in on his quarry and we are also taken back in time to the making of the film. There are satanic rituals, black magic and ancient fears and beliefs in play as the filming takes place. There’s also an interesting cast of characters, notably Mary Rourke who is the ‘fixer’ employed by the studio making the film. In essence, her job is to troubleshoot issues arising and to tidy up uncomfortable or potentially ruinous acts carried out by anyone involved in the making of the film. She’s to be kept very busy here.

Does Conway find a copy of the film? Is there good reason to believe that this truly is the classic horror movie it’s claimed to be? We have to wait some time to get answers to these questions, but I have to say that it’s a pretty satisfying journey. I don’t have too much to criticise here either, except to say that it’s perhaps all a little too drawn out and as the story comes to a close there are a few more twists and surprises than I think the story really needs. But overall I found it to be another truly gripping tale from this very talented writer.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of The Devil’s Playground, a stand-alone set mostly in Hollywood in 1927.

In 1967 film historian Dr Paul Conway is offered a life changing amount of money to locate the rumoured only copy of a silent horror film, The Devil’s Playground. His search takes him to an old hotel at Sudden Lake in the Mojave Desert with one occupant and a big secret. In 1927 Mary Rourke, fixer for Carbine International film studios, is asked to investigate the death of Norma Carlton, star of The Devil’s Playground and lay to rest the rumours that the production is cursed.

I put off reading The Devil’s Playground, because I thought it might be too complicated for me to follow when I’ve been having trouble with my concentration. How wrong could I be? This is an amazing novel that I couldn’t wait to get back to every time I had to put it down. It has a compelling tale to tell and a little bit of everything from murder to voodoo via silent screen stars and an exposé of the cynicism of the movie business, among others. I purposefully haven’t given it a genre, because to my mind it encompasses several and to pigeon hole it would be a disservice to the author’s imagination and mastery of his craft.

The novel opens in 1967 with Paul Conway meeting an unnamed woman and asking about The Devil’s Playground. That’s mystery number one and it immediately raises questions in the reader’s mind, enticing them into the story. I was hooked and the novel never let go. Most of the rest of the novel is set in 1927 and follows Mary Rourke’s rather haphazard investigation into the death of Norma Carlton. There are some side steps into Kansas in 1897 and Louisiana in 1907 that again rouse the curiosity as it isn’t immediately apparent where they fit in, and, yet, it doesn’t seem to matter as they have strong, imaginative tales to tell. I found the totality of the novel a compelling read with a strong story, even stronger characters and some cracking twists. It is imaginative, evocative and well paced.

I found Mary Rourke to be a very appealing protagonist. She’s capable and smart, but even she gets fooled and played on more than one occasion. It doesn’t slow her down, if anything, it makes her more determined to get at the truth. And what a truth it turns out to be.

The Devil’s Playground is one of the best novels I have read this year, so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

The award winning Craig Russell immerses the reader in a atmospheric historical thriller with elements of the gothic, set in the turbulent 1920s silent golden era of Hollywood, on the cusp of theentry of talking movies. It is inhabited with the famous beautiful people, with their carefully resurrected pasts, as fictional as the movies they create. It's a time of prohibition and speakeasys, of grandiose homes, drugs, overflowing drinks, parties, and debauchery. When the stars did get in trouble, PR and fixers like Mary Roarke for Carbine International Pictures, smooth things over, just as she does with the apparent suicide at home of the film legend that is Norma Carleton. She was the star of the 'cursed' The Devil's Playground, billed as the most spectacular horror movie of all time, but one which keeps getting hit by tragic mishap after mishap.

Mary discovers after she has covered up the suicide, that Norma was murdered, and her boss, Harry Carbine, who has bet the entire house on the success of the horror movie, asks her to investigate, despite her inexperience. It takes Mary a little time to find her feet, acquiring help from LAPD's Jake Kendrick, but what becomes transparently clear quickly is that this is a dangerous inquiry that could get her killed. In a narrative that goes back and forth in time, there are threads that go back to 1897 and the Dahlman and Darke Magic Lantern show in Kansas, and in 1907, in the verdant malevolent swamps of Louisiana, there are deaths as rumours of witches, voodoo and zombies abound. In 1967 film historian Paul Conway hunts for the rumoured only copy left of The Devil's Playground, a quest that take him to the desert and Sudden Lake.

Russell weaves a vibrant and scintillating story, of horror, creating a marvellously wide cast of distinct characters, a determined Mary who does not know the meaning of giving up, the missing girls and some larger than life characters, criminals and villains that make up a Hollywood community that had lost any sense of perspective or morality. The level of period detail is a delight that evokes an unforgettable era in this beautifully plotted thriller, packed with surprising twists, that I am sure will appeal to a wide variety of readers as well as fans of the author. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This is a dark and well-written crime novel, set in the golden era of Hollywood. It is 1927 and Mary Rourke is a ‘studio fixer,’ so, when the star of a movie her studio is making is found dead, a suspected suicide, she is dispatched to ensure things are made palatable for the press. No, Norma Carlton did not take her own life, she had a heart condition but soldiered on for her fans…. Love letters, diaries and incriminating letters swept off and Ms Carlton whisked off by a friendly doctor, while the corrupt cops are given a backhander. Only, once Norma Carlton is on the autopsy table, it appears that she has, in fact, been murdered and both the doctor, Mary Rourke and the studio have helped cover up not a scandal, but her untimely death.

The movie that Ms Carlton was making was, ‘The Devil’s Playground,’ set in a medieval village that turns to the devil for protection from the plague. The film is said to be cursed and the death of the movie’s leading lady is only the first of the mysterious happenings around it. We follow Mary Rourke as she is sent by Harry Carbine, of Carbine International Pictures, to discover why Norma Carlton was killed. As she heads into the Hollywood hills, to unearth the truth, we also have the backstory, set in the Louisiana Bayou and later, as a film professor sets out to unearth the remaining copy of the silent movie, now lost to time.

I have enjoyed other books by this author, and this is no exception. Very atmospheric, with a great character in Mary Rourke and all the cameo characters from that era. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Enjoyable, but possibly a wee bit overlong, thriller focusing on a missing film from 1920s Hollywood - with the majority of the book set in the 20s, tracking a studio fixer as she attempts to find out who killed one or their stars. Really atmospheric - both in the evocation of Hollywood at the point when the talkies were starting to come in - and in the more mysterious sections before and after, with a delicious sense of the supernatural threaded throughout. The timelines are told in parallel keeping the mystery alive, and there are big set pieces worthy of a classic movie. Great holiday read

Who doesn't love a bit of Hollywood legend? Those superstitions and theories about movies, particularly horror movies, that were purportedly cursed, resulting in major catastrophe, if not loss of life, for those connected to the production. Such is the legend of The Devil's Playground, a movie which sounded the death knoll for the studio that produced it and of which there are no known copies in circulation. When a film historian is hired to follow the lead to what may be the sole surviving copy of the film, it leads him, and readers, through the dark and deadly final days of production on the movie, in which one of the stars is found murdered and calamitous events are set to secure the movies status as one of the most cursed productions of all time.

I'm just going to pit it out. I really enjoyed this book. Loved the setting, loved the mystery and loved the sense of danger and tension which simmered throughout each and every chapter. That anticipation and willingness to expect the unexpected and to embrace the decadence and egos that typified 1920's Hollywood. With the looming threat of the 'talkies', every studio needed to make their mark, to salvage what was left of in the careers of the silent movie greats, and to gain a foothold in a rapidly changing movie landscape. For the producers of The Devil's Playground, that meant going bigger, bolder and more extraordinary than anything that had been seen before. Screen trickery that defied logic, stunts and effects so radical that they could only be done once but which helped establish the movie's infamy. Craig Russell has captured that spirit of the twenties, of the excess of the Hollywood set of that era just perfectly. The Valentinos, Fairbanks et al. The secrets and lies and the dichotomy of the what the public saw and the lives as they were truly lived by the stars that they all idolised. I felt transported, immersed in a setting so vibrant, and larger than life that I became completely engrossed and invested in the story.

I really liked Hollywood fixer Mary Rourke. I liked her strength and tenacity, and her determination to get to the bottom of what had really happened when Hollywood starlet, Norma Carlton, was murdered. She is a straight talking woman, resilient and creative, and a real product of her environment. Travelling alongside her, seeing life from her point of view, actually drew me deeper into the story, and kept me invested in the fates of all that she came into contact with. And it's not just the Hollywood set who demand her attention and her focus, there being a secondary thread to this story, one which informs Mary's investigation in an unexpected way. And yet, I say that, but perhaps there is something about the way in which the Hollywood elite lived, that sense of entitlement which comes through in the text, that made certain revelations far less shocking and almost gave them an air of inevitability.

This is actually are far darker story than it may appear on the surface. Behind the lights, the cameras and the painted facade of the movie lots, beyond the glamour and glitz of the stars homes, and the indulgence and excess of a prohibition era speakeasy, there is a troubling and almost gothic edge that defies the essence of the world that Craig Russell has otherwise painted. Yes, this is a movie with a dark, horror themed edge, so perhaps it's not entirely unexpected, but in a novel which, superficially at least, speaks more to Curtis Hanson's LA Confidential or Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, than it does William Friedkin's The Exorcist, there is something in it that has the capacity to make the skin crawl, and certainly kept me on edge.

There are some chapters set in the more modern (relatively speaking) 1960s which go someway to explaining away the truth of the story, and those scenes alone create a kind of tension, an uneasiness which it's hard to identify but even harder to ignore. Other scenes, set in the past, long before The Devil's Playground is even a spark in someone's imagination, all add to the legend that is to come, informing what follows in ways that brought a smile to my face and an overwhelming sense of satisfaction as the book drew to a close.

For a book set in a city overwhelmingly associated with sunshine, bright lights and cameras, there is a dark and brooding, almost atmospheric edge to the book which I absolutely loved. Most definitely recommended.

A glorious story straight from the Golden Age of Thrillers.

The story opens in 1967 where film historian Paul Conway is trying to track down the last remaining copy of The Devil's Playground, a notorious film from forty years ago. His search leads him to an isolated hotel where he finds more questions than answers.

We then jump to Hollywood, 1927 where film studio fixer Mary Rourke is summoned to the home of actress Norma Carlton, only to find her dead, With rumours circulating that the star's latest film "The Devil's Playground" is cursed, Mary is quickly drawn into an investigation into what actually happened.

And so the reader is immediately pulled into a dark and twisting tale of money, secrets, witchcraft and murder. This book could have come out of the Golden Age of thrillers - it has all the elements I love in a story. The characters are well-drawn and although perhaps caricatures of twenties heroes and villains, all the better for it. The story moves along nicely, as Mary uncovers secrets, some from a long time ago.

I'm not a huge fan of the (now seemingly mandatory) dual timeline novel, but here it works well. There are also some flashbacks to other times, all of which slowly start to fill in the events which have led to Mary's predicament. By the time we reach the final chapters, we're ready for the lovely conclusion.

For me, the star of the book is 1920's Hollywood, where most of the story takes place and which is portrayed in all its finery, debauchery and glamour. There are classic cars such as the Packard 533 coupe, ladies in cloche hats and men in fedoras and double-breasted suits and they all live art Art Deco mansions. The author paints all this and more in glorious technicolour and is clearly a fan of the era. We also take a trip to the deep south, where the bayou hides its own secrets.

Critics are going to argue over which genre this books fits in to - horror, noir story or thriller, Whichever, fans of Ellroy and James M Cain are going to love it. I was fortunate to receive a Netgalley ARC, but I'll be first in the queue for a real copy when it's released.

Thoroughly recommended.