Another brilliant debut author, whose journey I am excited to follow.

‘Murder in the Dressing Room’ is perfect for anyone; who like me loves the art of drag and a good murder mystery.

“By day, Joe is a hotel accountant, invisibly sitting behind their desk and playing by the rules. By night, donned in sequins, they take to the stage as Misty Divine, a star of the London drag scene.”

*Spoiler alert* Misty’s beloved drag mother and mentor Lady Lady is found dead in her dressing room and Misty makes it her duty to honour her mentor by finding her killer. Holly Stars takes us on a real journey through the drag scene, we are introduced to Drag Kings and Drag Queens with huge personalities and equally big motives. This is a whodunnit with a difference and a twist I didn’t see coming.

Stars has done a great job of writing a debut that balances comedy, murder mystery and the realities that the LGBTQ+ community face.

This is a book with real heart and I cannot wait to see what Misty Divine gets up to next.

Thank you to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House. NetGalley and Holly Stars for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joe is a shy accountant working in a hotel, doing everything that he should but Joe is also Misty Divine, a drag queen in London, being guided by Lady Lady, his drag mother and owner of the most popular drag nightclub in town. When Lady Lady is found dead in her dressing room all eyes are turned toward Misty and the other performers are the prime suspects as they are the only ones that had access to her room.
Misty finds herself grieving of course for Lady Lady, but is also frustrated by the attitude of one of the Police Officers on the case. A transphobic officer who simply doesn't understand the world of the drag kings and queens and isn't interested in trying either.
Misty (and occasionally Joe) is determined to investigate the murder and discover which of his friends killed Lady Lady.

The other characters are so well defined. There are twists, turns, red herrings, glitz and glamour and I loved every minute of it.

On top of all that, I guessed whodunit too

Drag Race meets Only Murders. Following Misty on her quest to discover the murderer of her drag mother Lady, Lady, this book was just delicious. Bringing together beautiful friendships, suspicion and whole lot of realness. The depiction of the lack of trust of the police was especially poignant.

The descriptions of Misty's confidence in and out of drag was also enlightening and ran throughout the book, the growing confidence and character development was great.

I'm very glad that there was a second twist, which surprised me more than the first. From now on, I want all of my crime thrillers to be led by Misty.

This has a great sense of voice and character development, as well as a solid mystery at its core. It just lacked that intangible thing that pushes a book to the next level for me.

Misty Divine is here to steal the show—and solve a murder! This fabulous cozy mystery introduces us to Joe, a mild-mannered hotel accountant by day, and Misty Divine, a glamorous and confident drag queen by night. When Misty’s beloved mentor, Lady Lady, is found dead in her dressing room, Misty refuses to sit back and let the police fumble the investigation. With a stolen dress, a growing list of suspects, and secrets lurking backstage, Misty is determined to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.

This was a classic whodunnit with a big twist at the end that had me guessing right until the final page. Misty is a strong, dynamic protagonist, and I loved how the story sensitively portrayed the confidence and empowerment that can come from stepping into a drag persona. The author beautifully explored the challenges and triumphs familiar to the LGBTQ+ community, all while keeping the story full of humor, heart, and dazzling flair.

Switching pronouns between Joe’s nonbinary identity (they/them) and Misty’s drag persona (she/her) was a unique narrative touch that worked perfectly and added depth to their character. It also highlighted the contrast between the person behind the glitz and glamour and the feelings, vulnerabilities, and strength that make them whole.

With an engaging cast of characters, sharp humor, and plenty of twists and turns, this is a fantastic debut that I’ll be recommending to all cozy mystery fans. I can’t wait for the next Misty Divine instalment

From the first lines of this book I knew I was going to enjoy it.
“Dead. There was no doubt about it: Lady Lady was dead. She was dead and her wig had fallen off.”

Joe is a mild and timid hotel accountant but by night Joe is Misty Devine, a glamorous and confident drag queen. When her mentor Lady Lady is found dead in her dressing room in a stolen dress Misty takes upon herself to find out who could have killed her.

This is a fantastic cozy murder mystery that kept me guessing right to the very end. Joe is non binary and uses the pronouns they/them but when in the Misty persona is she/her. Having never read a book with changing pronouns it took me a while to get used to but it worked perfectly.

I’m looking forward to the next Misty Divine instalment.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for provided me with a free review copy of this book.

Misty \devine is a London based drag artist, working in the best drag club in Soho - Lady's - Lady Lady famous TV drag Queen is Misty's mentor, she set up the club after falling out with her TV partner Auntie Susan and no promotes established and upcoming Drag artists.

But now she is dead, murdered, poisoned to be precise and MIsty is the one who finds her and therefore is the police's number one suspect, however the police are more interested in the dress that Lady was wearing when she was murderd, it was stolen from a local vintage shop and was previously owned by Judy Garland. Misty upset that the police don't seem interested decides to investigate herself and the killer is closer to home than she suspects.

I love a good cosy mystery and this one was right up my alley, the characters a brilliantly written and very human and therefore believble.

Misty/Joe as wonderfully created character and the author shows respect to non-binary people by using the promouns of they/them when refering to Joe but she/her when referring to Misty, this is fantastic though did take a while to get used to but once you have read a little bit it becomes second nature.

The plot is clever and the author knows their stuff, I am terrible picking holes and one of the things that struck me was how tall was Lady Lady (I had to go back and re-read that part) because she was wearing Judt Garland's dress. Judy Garland was only 4ft 11 and I did wonder if Judy's dress would have been long enough for her, on checking Lady is about 5ft tall so Judy's dress would have been fine on her. This made me ridiculously happy for some reason.

There is bribary and blackmail, bumbling cops and gangsters, this story has everything a cosy mytery should have and I really hope there will be more Misty Devine mysteries in future.

4 Stars

Loved and enjoyed this book so much. I was thinking of who Lady Lady could be IRL. Maybe La Voix or Lavinia Co-Op? Regardless, for those of us who are part of or super fans of the drag scene (particularly in the UK), this was such a fun murder mystery. I loved getting to know Misty Divine as she grew in her confidence and sleuthing skills. Would love for this to be a series!

Murder In The Dressing Room by Holly Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House in return for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book from the beginning right to the end, full of twists and turns that I didn’t see some coming! It was giving vibes of Only Murders In The Building but make it drag and it was soo good!! I did not see the ending coming at all - when I thought I did, I had a sweep of a twist that hit me like a truck!

I really loved the character of Joe/Misty with the “double life” it was really eye opening to see the life of a drag queen in and out of drag. Joe day by day is a shy hotel accountant who keeps their head down and lives a regular life with their partner Miles. By night, they become Misty Devine, a gorgeous drag queen who performs at the Lady Lady’s Bar. With being in drag, they feel fierce, strong, bold; all the things that Joe doesn’t feel about themselves. This book touches on many LGBTQIA+ themes without being forced upon - which was well done - from being misunderstood to being misgendered.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend everyone to get their hands on this book when it releases in February next year!

Its central mystery is a little underdeveloped, and lead Joe/Misty needs further character development to really stand out, but there's a warmth and charm to the queer chosen family at the heart of things that really helps things along and makes the bar gang alone worth picking the book up for.

WOW!! In the best possible way!

If Agatha Christie and Ru Paul’s Drag Race had a sordid affair and ended up producing some illegitimate love child Murder in The Dressing would be that love child!

I loved this so much, a great murder mystery that keeps you guessing filled with the drama you’d expect from your fave drag queen, not forgetting that ICONIC drag humour sprinkled through the book.

Loved it and will be recommending that everyone meets Misty!

Thankyou for an awesome book!

Note for the publisher/netgalley not sure who is ‘responsible’ but the e arc I received still had words missing so the age of misty early doors was left out I checked with a friend who had a physical proof and it’s good there, but can you make sure that the earc being sent to people is good quality as snobby arsey readers will pull a book apart because of that and that wouldn’t be fair to Holly! 🥹

This was such a great murder mystery with a style of drama. I absolutely adored it. I loved the characters. I thought the story was told well and had lots of twist and turns to keep me interested throughout.

I loved this murder mystery. It was funny and witty. I couldn’t put it down as I followed along with the queens. I found it an entertaining book to read. I love the drag theme too as I love drag race so found this a great book to read .

This was a really fun murder mystery especially for readers getting into this genre. It was a gentle kind of suspenseful, very light-hearted but still intriguing enough to want to keep going until the very end!

I think I would describe this book as an easy, entry level murder mystery. It had a good plot and good potential, but it felt a bit like there was something missing. I feel it needed a bit more characterisation, as I didn't quite connect with any of the characters in the book. There was a lot of different characters within this book, but it never got confusing about who was who, which can often be the case!

The story flowed well and was easy to follow along. I felt the writing style wasn't quite suspenseful and tense as I like murder mysteries to be. I think this is a good murder mystery book for someone who perhaps wants to start getting into them, and doesn't want to read something gory or scary. This wasn't a tense, gripping type of mystery, but more like a murder mystery dinner party!

Thank you Netgalley for the Arc!

I absolutely adored this book, such a great murder mystery with enough twists and turns throughout to keep you going. I was convinced I had clocked the killer but the last 10% of this book was such an experience.

I think this is the first time I'll ever call a murder mystery fun, but it really was a great read and now I want more Misty!

I will make a IG and Tiktok post about this soon!

This is a story about Misty Divine, a drag queen/performer, whose drag mentor is found murdered in her dressing room. It follows Misty in the week and a half after the murder, where she investigates the murder and tries to figure out who killed her beloved drag mentor and drag mother, Lady Lady, and why.

As someone who doesn't know very much at all about drag, this is a very insightful story in terms of understanding what it's like to be someone who does drag, the identity one has in and out of drag, and a couple of other things pertaining to similar topics.

Starting off, the writing style wasn't my favourite, but it was mostly simple, making it easy to read. 

The pace felt a bit inconsistent to me, and the story seemed to drag on a bit around the middle. This did put me off from reading this and other books for a couple of days. However, once I picked it back up again around the 60% mark, I finished it one sitting. The pace definitely seemed to pick back up again, and although there were lots of shocking and tense moments, it did feel quite slow up until the very end, when everything came crashing and the missing pieces were revealed and solved, and the chaos and emotions during this ending definitely increased my enjoyment of the book. 

It did keep me on edge during that last 40% and throughout the entire story nonetheless, making me question every character Misty was and wasn't suspicious of, even making me wonder if Misty herself was an unreliable narrator and could have committed the murder for whatever reason.

As I mentioned in the beginning, it did help me peer into what drag was like and how those who perform drag can be treated in numerous ways, which was sprinkled throughout the book.

To conclude, I'm not exactly sure how to feel about this book. It was alright and wasn't too bad; the pace and the writing style just weren't my thing.

Give it a try if the synposis interests you, though, as it could be perfect for you, especially if the idea of performing drag and/or the drag community interests you.

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars is a witty and entertaining murder mystery that combines the glamour of the theater world with sharp humor and suspense. Stars creates an intriguing backdrop filled with eccentric characters, all tied to the high-stakes drama behind the scenes of a theatrical production. The story expertly balances comedy and mystery, keeping readers both laughing and guessing as secrets unfold and tensions rise. With its fast-paced plot, clever dialogue, and a murder that leads to plenty of twists and surprises, Murder in the Dressing Room is a delightful whodunit perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and theatrical intrigue.

Murder in the dressing room is a fabulous debut by Comedian and Drag artist Holly Stars. I confess I never heard of her and do not watch shows like Drag race UK. But I was enthralled by this book.
Joe is a reserved hotel account, who just wants the quite life. But by night he is Misty Divine. An upcoming drag artist in The London scene. When he visits his Mentor Lady Lady in her dressing room just before a show. She finds her dead, Dead! She was poisoned.
The Police arrive to discover the body, but they were more concerned about the dress she was wearing than Lady lady’s life. So, Misty Divine takes it on herself to find out who wanted Lady Lady dead.
The is a fabulous cosy murder mystery with lots of twists and turns and lots of humour in it too, this had lots of great characters and like how the story differentiated between the drag artist and the real person inside. The person underneath all that Glitz and Glamour have real feelings too.
This is a great debut from this author, and I will look forward to more from them. 5 stars from me.

Murder In The Dressing Room is a sparkling mystery where drag queens aren’t just dramatic – they’re deadly. By day, Joe is a reserved hotel accountant, hiding behind their desk and living a quiet life. By night, they transform into Misty Divine, an up-and-coming star of London’s vibrant drag scene. But when Misty’s beloved mentor, Lady Lady, is found murdered in her dressing room, the glamour turns to horror. Misty, along with her fellow performers, becomes a prime suspect.

Heartbroken and frustrated by the lack of progress from the police, Joe is determined to find the truth. Though they may just be a hotel accountant by day, this is a case for Misty Divine by night. As Misty dives into the world of sleuthing across London, the book cleverly weaves the glamour of the drag scene with the sharp tension of a murder investigation.

With a fabulous protagonist, an intriguing cast of side characters, and plenty of sparkle, Murder In The Dressing Room is everything you could want in a mystery thriller – just with a bit more glitter!

Holly Stars’ writing is both engaging and immersive, making you feel as though you're right alongside Misty Divine as she navigates the glittering, gritty world of drag and danger. The book touches on important themes within the LGBT+ community without ever feeling heavy-handed, adding depth to the mystery. The plot unfolds with twists and turns, keeping you on the edge of your seat, and Stars' accessible writing style makes this a quick, unputdownable read.

Read more at The Secret Bookreview.