A brilliant blast from the past in more ways than one. I adored “choose your own adventure” books when I was a child so it was great fun to relive that with a deftly-written crime novel set in 1950s Hollywood.

The characters are well-written and unique with the settings described perfectly. The humour is perfectly pitched.

I genuinely couldn’t put this book down.

The Royale Premiere hotel on the eve of a prestigious awards ceremony, all the glitz and glamour of fifties Hollywood and a murder. YOU, yes YOU, are first on the scene and have to investigate.

I'm old enough to remember Choose Your Own Adventure books when they were first published, so when I read the blurb for Murder in Tinseltown thought it was something I'd enjoy. Unfortunately, while it's an interesting idea it's poorly executed

On my first read through I noticed several inconsistencies: I followed a key witness to the airport and watched him die only to return to the hotel and bump into him alive and well; I discovered the murder weapon only to witness crime scene techs discover it again; and witnessed an explosion in a guest's room only to hide out in the same room with no mention made of the hole in the wall or water damage that had been caused earlier.

This being a choose your own style book I figured there would be false trails and dead ends, but there would be one true path through the story that, were you to find it, would iron out all the annoying inconsistencies. To that end I spent several hours reading and re-reading, trying one path after another and still encountering them, but maybe I was just unlucky. Maybe I'll give it another read at some point, but right now it's more of an annoying read than an enjoyable one.

Thanks anyway to NetGalley, HarperNorth and the author for an advance copy.

Rating: 2.5 - 2.75 ⭐

This review is a challenge to write, because I truly need to articulate and adjust my review style for this book. Truthfully, I’m a little bit sad about writing this review because this book really has potential. At the beginning, I wanted to read this because I want to gamify my reading, so I thought from the synopsis, this adventure will be exciting. However, I’ve mixed feelings for this book at the end. I have no issue in terms of writing because it is straightforward and easy to understand. But the plot in general really needs to be improved.
From my reading, I see that the investigation truly focused on catching the culprit instead of evidence gathering, which is understandable based on the synopsis. However, the storyline for each choice truly needs to be improved in terms of transition and the sequence of action. The sequence of some choices were jumbled up, making the reading experience confusing. Personally, after getting to the expected ending, I just read the book from beginning to the end, ignoring all the choices. This is because I want to know all possible choices in the story, but I don’t want to play the game anymore.
Finally, I’m still thinking that the author still has potential on creating stories like this, but really need to be careful in terms of plot choices. I want to see more from the author and thank you for this story. Thank you to Harper North and NetGalley for this ARC! This review was voluntarily written by me.

Thank you Harper North and NetGalley for a copy of Murder In Tinseltown.

I was so intrigued to read this book but sadly the title of this book just wasn’t for me. After waiting for 5 chapters to make the first decision which I thought was a long time in my opinion sadly my story quickly ended and I lost interest in continuing any longer in this book but I did. This was my first Choose Your Own Adventure book and I can say it will be my first and lost as it just doesn’t work at all sadly. I won’t be reading any more of these kind of books. I loved that the author came up with this idea I just wished it had worked xxx

My thanks to Harper North and NetGalley for a copy of “ Murder In Tinseltown “ for an honest review.

I was intrigued to read this as I’d recently read and really enjoyed The Traitors “ book , where you also had to choose which direction to take the storyline.Sadly this title just wasn’t for me. , possibly because I read it as an ebook , and i think the format works better in book form.After waiting for 5 chapters to make the first decision , my story quickly ended and I lost interest in continuing any further.
May be an interesting nostalgic read for some just not for me !

While I loved the idea and plot of the book, along with its interactive elements, I found that it ultimately fell short due to several inconsistencies throughout the story. The premise had great potential, but the execution didn't quite live up to the expectations set by the intriguing concept. Despite this, I’ve still awarded stars for the creativity behind the idea, the effort that went into crafting the narrative, and the appealing book cover. Unfortunately, the inconsistencies hindered the overall experience for me.

This was my first Choose Your Own Adventure book and I can't say it's encouraged me to find more.

For a start, I DNF'd before I even got to start choosing things. I skipped ahead and we don't have any decisions until Chapter 5. I don't know if that's the norm for a CYOA but I don't want to wait FIVE chapters to start steering the journey my way.

For those of a certain generation, Choose Your Own Adventure books and then Fighting Fantasy adventure game books were the latest word in interactive storytelling. Whilst computer games have caught up - and largely replaced them - there is still a joy in a well told story where You are the Hero.

This book is designed in the same vein. You are a Homicide detective in 1950s LA who stumbles across the murder of famous actress on the eve of a fictional Not-Oscars award ceremony. It’s a setting with potential and an idea which, whilst potentially complicated, would if well executed be very satisfying.

Sadly, the execution isn’t that great. There are a few obvious issues on a couple of play throughs. One is that due to a limited number of option paragraphs to turn to the book sometimes assumes events have taken place or haven’t taken place in the text which, if the reader has plotted a slightly different course is odd or confusing.

Another is that the reader is given fewer options than you might want. Long chapters mean that you are often told what your character is doing. Limited options at the end of each piece of text sometimes confront you with two options, neither of which are what you might actually want to do.

The biggest issue, however, has to be the investigation itself. There is no real option for a structured thought through investigation based on evidence gathering. You are expected to chase suspects and act on hunches - not necessarily an issue if you know you are in a hard boiled noir inspired world, but that’s not necessarily the impression given all the time. More significant is the fact that different plays give different solutions. It is indicative of the fact that no clues will point you to the answer. In fact the solutions I found I don’t really make much sense and neither explained the mysterious phone call that set the events of the book in motion.

Overall, enjoyable enough to pass the time but not really to recommend.

I used to love Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child – who else remembers them? – so when I saw this new adult version of the same concept, I couldn’t wait to read it. Murder in Tinseltown is set in Los Angeles in the 1950s and the reader takes on the role of a detective investigating the murder of an actress. At various points in the story you’ll have the opportunity to choose your own actions and decide what happens next, either by turning to different numbered pages or, in the Kindle edition I read, simply clicking on a link.

You start your adventure at LAPD headquarters on the weekend of the Golden Star Awards when some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have descended on the city. It’s a busy day in the squad room, but when a disturbing call comes through from the Royal Premiere Hotel – “Trouble…hurt…not my fault…help…it’s them…I’m sorry…” – you head straight to the hotel to investigate. You arrive just in time to learn that one of the waiters has discovered Blanche Aikerman, probably the world’s most famous actress, stabbed to death in her room. After witnessing the dead body for yourself, you accompany the hotel manager to the suite of Peter von Hiltz, Blanche’s director, to give him the news. However, he doesn’t answer the door. What will you do next?

This is where the interactive part of the novel begins. Will you ask the manager to let you into von Hiltz’s room? Will you return to the crime scene to look for more clues? Or would you prefer to interview the waiter who found the body? Each option takes you to a different location in the book and the story continues from there until you reach another turning point and are presented with a new set of choices. It could and should have been a lot of fun working through the book and trying to solve the mystery – unfortunately, there were some problems with the structure which made the whole experience less satisfying than I’d hoped.

Maybe there was one route I could have followed through the novel where the story would have flowed perfectly, but surely somebody should have checked that all of the other possible routes also made sense. Early on, I saw a character die right in front of my eyes at an airport – then I returned to the hotel, where that same character was still walking around alive and well as if nothing had happened. Similarly, I found the murder weapon and then someone else found it again later in the book. Looking at other reviews, it seems that most of us noticed those same two things so I’m not sure how they weren’t picked up on by the author or an editor. Also, there are several outcomes where you die, but instead of the book ending as you would expect, you just come straight back to life and are directed to the ‘correct’ option so the story can continue.

From a nostalgia perspective, it was nice to have the opportunity to read a book like this, but I’m disappointed that it didn’t work as well as it could have done.

These type of books were my jam back in primary school and the premise of an adult choose your own adventure murder mystery was really intriguing.

The storyline and the characters were what I'd expect in a Hollywood set Crime-Noir. However, something was just missing. When you chose the path you wanted to take the chapters didn't flow well, sometimes people came back to life or evidence was rediscovered. And sadly the main character was less than effective - it sometimes felt like it was their first day on the job!

It may have been a better experience if I hadn't read the ebook version but I really think this could a great nostalgia-soaked idea for the gen x crowd who grew up with these kind of books, it just needs finessed a bit and the MC to be given a bit of oomph!

I wrote these notes as I read the book so I just wrote them as and when it happened.

Even though the main character is a police officer they don't take control of the situation when it becomes clear its a crime scene and lets the hotel manager tell another guest that there was a murder, which is definitely not something a real police officer would want someone doing when they don't know yet who murdered them. And the manager is also just banging on the guests door in the hallway where anyone could hear him talking about the incident. Then the manager asks the officer for their discretion?

The officer hasn't immeditely called for back up to get the scene secured and ready for forensics and the hotel locked down. And then he gets up on the bedside table with his dirty shoes, right next to the body! And he grabs the murder weapon... I don't care if he believes he didn't get his fingerprints on it... You are RUINING EVIDENCE. And then he approaches the victims mother, still holding the bloody weapon! And then manhandles it safely into his pocket. Then he says he has 'no evidence this is the murder weapon' !!!

None of the dialogue is believable and it isn't written the best.

As much as the fire would be serious, I dont believe for one moment that a single jerry can explosion could cause a hole in a building. I even googled this and watched videos of jerry cans exploding. Also- if it WAS strong enough to cause that, in what world is evacuating the building the WRONG answer. Also the fire department don't make anyone evacuate either. The murderer could have already left the building, and in the real world crimes aren't solved on the same night. Also the room should be engulfed in flames after that happened, especially if there is a hole in the building feeding it oxygen...

'The logical conclusion, then, is that Peter von Hiltz was the intended victim (of the petrol bomb).' I strongly disagree.

Why was Peter running?

The officer then finds another knife at some point and puts that happily away in his pocket too! Not just a problem with DNA but also if they ends up being evidence the person who owns it can deny that it was found in their posession because you moved it! No pictures taken of where it was found or anything!

Why was Walter running?

There are typical dead ends you come to when taking wrong choices which is expected for Choose Your Own books but you regularly end up going down a path you have already been down before which is very annoying. A massive example being that I followed a certain character to the airport and that character ended up dying. Then later on that character is back in the hotel, alive. And again I am forced to ask: Why where they running?

'You tell him you’re not interested in executing him, unless he’s done something wrong.' Erm, what???

One moment the captain is saying the officer better have a good reason to arrest a character because of how infamous they are, the next moment they are falsely accusing them of the crime so that he can get the case resolved and get famous. And then they revoke the arrest of the man??? He ran from an officer and pulled a gun on him! He's committed a crime.

And then he gets car-chased by his own colleagues for some reason?
‘If they catch us, we’re finished. Our feet won’t hit the ground . They’ll strap us to the electric chair tonight. Both of us. You’re an accessory now.’ ...

They go back to Peter's room... and there's even a room left to go back into.

'Captain Barclay almost faints', that's funny (The author wasn't trying to be funny).

The revealed murderer says something along the lines of 'what kind of person would I be if I didnt take responsibility for my actions' but they literally were happy to let the officer take all the blame. Oh and of course none of the police officers in the room were able to prevent them from grabbing one of their guns.

Going back to my point about something happening that contradicts an event that already happened - remember when I mentioned that the officer puts the bloody weapon in his pocket? At the end of the book, another officer it taking it out of it's original hiding place. Maybe don't have the officer touch the weapon at all at the beginning and then this particular problem wouldnt occur.

When I finished I was left wondering who set the gas trap in Peter's room and I tried to go back and find out which then lead me to finding another path where someone completely different admits to the murder? WHAT? What is the point of this book if there isn't a solid narrative?!

Still didn't get my answer about who exploded Peters room. *sigh*

I really enjoyed the idea of yourself being a detective and investigating a murder of a 1950's top actress, and having to choose my own actions ;I’m old enough to remember books and comics like this and adores them.

This story just didn’t work, it seemed every choice was short or you found characters that had died earlier now alive:,it needs more work to become less clunky as the story itself could work.

I really enjoyed the idea of yourself being a detective and investigating a murder of a 1950's top actress, and having to choose my own actions ; but turns out it was the only thing that I liked here.

The story was on itself as simple as it could possibly can be. Example: the first time I've read the book, I must have taken the quickest actions as I've never went over the 55% mark on my book and finished the story. Going back to beginning and selecting other actions, I've been taken to other characters but they really felt like they were here for a quota of pages and "suspects" (they aren't really). The murderer is by the way quickly apprehended and the end bye this is the end of the book just try other actions to see more! But they'll still get you back to the same murderer and ending! There's also not much of investigation you can do, as it's always dead ends or plainly given.

There's a LOT of chapters were you -stupidly- die. A lot of chapters being totally incoherent in a way the detective (us, reader) acts : one moment he's all wanting to do everything by the book and follow the law, and the other moment he do very reckless and improbable acts a clean cop shouldn't do at all (trying to get away from other corps with a car chase? Using a person as a human shield??). There's also incoherence in the chapters itself, like when you select an action you're getting into von Hiltz's room, then getting back to the lobby doing stuff and... asking for von Hiltz's room number? Which by the way exploded and it's not talked at all anywhere else than that first chapter action I got, and it even once went as a hidding base when everything should by under ashes and water!

So overall : the idea was good, but the execution was badly done and not complex enough to get invested in the story. You either have a choice by dying, or going over lenghty useless informations, or following the direction the author wanted you to take.

I was VERY excited to get stuck into this. As a big fan of the Choose Your Own Adventure books back in the day, this was a blast from the past for me. The format lends itself very well to the Kindle format as you don't have to turn to page X for the next installment of the story, you can just click and you are whisked to the next chapter. Loved that. The premise was also great. The stars are gathered in Hollywood for the "Goldies" and then Blanche Aikerman, a 27 year old starlet tipped to win at the Goldies, is found dead in her hotel penthouse suite. Where this fell short is at the choose your own adventure point. I chose an apparently super speedy version as the entire story ended 15 minutes into my lunch break! There is, luckily, chances to start over when you finish, because otherwise I would have felt a bit short changed on this. I was expecting, for an adult book, for the story to last longer. Having said this, this book would make a great Christmas stocking filler, and I will try again and see what other paths I can take!

As someone who grew up on Give Yourself Goosebumps, I was immediately drawn to the premise of this. This book was so nostalgic with its use of "you" and the choose your own adventure style narrative. A joy to read