A Sparkling Case of Murder: Lisette Darling Golden Age Mysteries

Lisette Darling #1

by Colette Clark

A New Year’s Eve party rings in…a dead body. Hollywood 1934 It’s New Year’s Eve, the dawn of the Golden Age of Hollywood movies. Lisette Darling finds herself ringing in the new year with the biggest and brightest stars of Olympus Studios at the owner’s grand mansion in the Hollywood Hills. When the clock strikes 12:00, kisses are exchanged, glasses are raised, champagne is downed…and one starlet is dead from poisoning before the clock can strike 12:01. At a party where ambition, deceit, and jealousy flowed more freely than the bubbly, there’s more than one suspect to be had. And they all have secrets. As the gal Friday to Olympus’s “fixer,” Lisette is used to putting out fires. Now, she finds herself battling the biggest one of her career. It’s an inferno she has a personal interest in finding the cause of…because she may have been the one to let the killer into the party! A Sparkling Case of Murder is the first book in the Lisette Darling Golden Age Mysteries series set in 1930s Hollywood. Enjoy a mix of witty humor, twisty suspense, and the glitz and glamour reminiscent of classic films all set in a cozy mystery.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Historical, Crime

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Colette Clark lives in New York and has always enjoyed learning more about the history of her amazing city. She decided to combine that curiosity and love of learning with her addiction to reading and watching mysteries. Her first series, Penelope Banks Murder Mysteries is the result of those passions. When she’s not writing she can be found doing Sudoku puzzles, drawing, eating tacos, visiting museums dedicated to unusual/weird/wacky things, and, of course, reading mysteries by other great authors.

Reviews

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to meet this author half way. 3.5 stars rounded up. Good characterization, good story, good twist at the end.

Needs an editor. Some unfortunate word choices. An unfortunate construction: "[a declarative], no?" used by multiple characters - not even foreigners.

Needs to cut all that is not necessary to the story (e.g., her room mate, phone calls from Penelope Banks, etc.).

[Stephanie Littleford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute whodunnit! Super fun, fast read and satisfied my light hearted mystery crave.

[Lonny Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new series from Colette Clark with an interesting dynamic between the two leads. Neither trusts the other completely, but they work together to solve the murder of hot new starlet Margo Day. Lisette is tha assistant "fixer" at Olympus Pictures. It's her job to make sure nothing scandalous about anyone connected to the studio finds its way into the news. Byron Linley is a PI who manages to alienate the police wherever he goes. The studio setting is a nice change of pace from most cozy mysteries. Hollywood in the "Golden Age" of the 1930's has plenty of possibilities for interesting stories. I really like the Penelope Banks series that Ms. Clark has ongoing, and this is a great start to a sort of sequel series. I look forward to both series continuing.

[James A. Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t Let a Slow Start Stop You

It takes a good deal of scene setting to put the various plot pieces in place…if this starts to bother you keep reading…when the first murder happens the usual Colette Clark magic kicks into gear. It’s every bit as serious a page turner as the Penelope Banks books with a heavy dose of Tinseltown at its peak. Movie moguls and jealous wives and gangsters and illegitimate children and philandering men and casual women and gossip columnists and free flowing champagne and it seems everyone has a secret or three to hide. Definitely a rewarding read!

[Patricia Gulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wondered about the dialogue, that one that sounded like a 3 Stooges act, but it got better and better, good twisty story and interesting character. A good old Hollywood story. The main character and her boss, and the job they had of protecting reputations and whitewashing bad habits of their studios stars made for an interesting difference from the PI and amateur sleuth story.
I didn't read the other book for back story.

[KathleenWH · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun new heroine

In this work, Ms Clarke provides a dashing, sometimes dizzying romp through one 1930s Hollywood studio.

Red herrings, deceit, rumors, and a somewhat confusing ending and very long epilogue combine to provide a head spinning story that just somehow, in my humble option, just just come together to give Colette Clark readers an enjoyable cozy mystery.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story! The plot is easily followed, the characters are all vastly interesting, and the story is chock full of murders, mayhem, lies, denials, and dirty dealing. I definitely recommend this book.

[Roxx Tarantini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good start to a new-to-me series . . .

. . . looking forward to seeing more of Lisette's adventures!

Engaging characters, a twisty-turny plot, and a good dollop of humour. Clark's trifecta is the perfect combination for a winning read! You'll love it!

[Margaret J Boccuzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when you think you've figured it out

Loved the twists and turns! More suspects than Carters liver pills and questions at every turn. but good story for mystery buffs.
You will love it!

[Beth Fye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the Read

It took me three nights to read but if I didn’t have to cook, clean house, or do laundry, I could have managed one all-nighter! Ms. Clark’s writing grabs you at the first page and doesn’t let go.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters. Good story. Good twists and turns. While not telegraphing the ending, the author left enough clues that you could feel like you were accumulating them and could see how this would end. I would definitely read an other in this series n

[Maryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Interesting Mystery; a Cheesy Romance

Lots of suspects, twists and turns, an intelligent and self sufficient female detective, I really liked most of this book. However, it’s spoiled by a smarmy, patronizing, sexist detective who is supposed to be a good match for her.

[Watergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story. The main drawback is the amount of coughing and hiccupping laughs that make me feel like running for a mask and face shield. Distracting and overused.

[Sherry Vorhaben · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

I love to read books where the characters move on into new books. Interesting to hear about Penelope.
On to book two.

[Cynthia Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me guessing until the very end!

Loved this historical mystery set in 1930's Hollywood. Great characters, top notch murder mystery. Can't wait to start the next one!!

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read for October. It’s a Hollywood murder mystery it just didn’t fully grasp my attention I was bored at times but it was a good read

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a decent book, and I did not figure out who did it before the end of the book which is a rare occurrence. There does seem to be a lot of characters, hard to keep track of all of them.

[Graeme Dunlop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed most of the Penelope Clark series, I was interested to read this spin-off, with a character from the Penelope series being ten years older.

I was disappointed.

Lisette is a good character but the story -- and the mystery -- just felt like blundering around until an answer was accidentally stumbled upon.

Also, i don't find the whole "Golden Age of Hollywood" milieu very entertaining, which is a bit strange if you think about it. :) Pen's decade was far more interesting.