This novel, set around the production of the most famous version of the Maltese Falcon, has an intriguing premise but sadly fails to engage. The dialogue is light and bouncy, but this is often at odds with the seriousness of the events. The over the top attention to pets and miscellaneous animals is distracting and frankly annoying. Too much is expected of a new reader to the series with frequent reference to earlier events and prior character development. Disappointing,

A fun romp through old-time Hollywood. I don't know much about the movie stars and culture of the time, but the setting and dialogue felt authentic. They were certainly snappy and fun to read. I was mostly interested in the mystery of the Falcon, since that is such a iconic film, and the main reason I picked up this book. Unfortunately, the mystery itself fell flat for me. Nevertheless, this was a quick, enjoyable read with an interesting lead pair.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

I’m a huge fan of film noir and books set during Hollywood in the golden age. So when I saw the premise of this book I was intrigued. I do think my prior knowledge of many of the people referenced in this book enhanced my enjoyment so it would be interesting to see how this felt for people less familiar with the period.

I thought the author did a good job with writing voices in this time period and setting. I tend to gravitate towards stories with this setting but the characters can regularly be over the top and unnatural. Not here, the characters felt believable while still being genuine to the time period. The dialogue never felt stilted or like it was trying too hard.

I was a big fan of the main character Babs. I found myself less engaged with the mystery they were trying to solve, but very engaged with Babs and her assortment of animals! Indeed, Babs history, her problem solving and curiosity and the storyline featuring her ex husband were the most interesting parts of this book for me.

This was fun to visit some familiar names in a new story!

A unique piece of fan fiction.
Fun, but confusing.
A solution I needd to read more than once

The real-life characters were well researched
The made up characters were 2 dimensional

Summer of 1941 and the calling card for actors beginning with Humphrey Bogart is a black mummified falcon, followed by black dead crows. It seems ominous and the duo of Babs and Guy, private detectives are set with the task of why and by whom.
Involving a host of Hollywood stars and dead bodies our private eye ends up interviewing and trying to track a killer (albeit humorously) with a lot of activity and coming up with dead ends. The murders keep piling up and the detectives are behind in catching the murderers before another victim surfaces.

Detailed in its descriptiveness of Hollywood stars, which was a major part of the story, detectives trailed far behind. Amusing.

1941 Hollywood. First a female collapses outside their office door with a dead bird inside her coat then Humphrey Bogart employs p.i. Norman and Brandt as he found a canopic jar with a dead bird inside. But why and by whom. Seems virtually every actor of the period is interviewed (and therefore would be innocent of the crimes) coupled with a large amount of animals. Not sure how they managed to solve the case.
Overall an enjoyable historical mystery
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thank NetGalley and Level Best Books - Historia for an advance reader copy of “Bye Bye Blackbird.” All opinions and comments are my own.

If you want a history of a lot of the actors of Tinseltown’s Golden Age, then “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Elizabeth Crowens is for you. Babs Norman and her partner Guy Brandt meander through the story in a very muddling fashion as the two chase down who’s leaving dead birds for some of the leading lights of the Hollywood movie world (and the silly side plot “chasing” the ex-husband slows everything down even further).

And other than all the talk, there’s isn’t much of a sense of time and place. Good for those who might want to read about the high and mighty of the 40s movie scene, but light on everything else. And with an ending that has more questions than answers. If you’re looking for a mystery plot worthy of the fictional stories of the time, look somewhere else.

This book was too chaotic for me. The mystery seemed interesting, but there was too much going on at once. All the animals frankly distracted from the plot. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!