A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime

by Casey Sherman (Author/Narrator)

The dark story behind the bright lights of Tinseltown From the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all―a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana's teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother's life deteriorate as Stompanato's intense jealousy took over. Eventually, the physical and emotional abuse became too much to bear, and Lana attempted to break it off with Johnny―with disastrous consequences. The details of what happened that fateful night remain foggy, but it ended in a series of frantic phone calls and Stompanato dead on Lana's bedroom floor, with Cheryl claiming to have plunged a knife into his abdomen in an attempt to protect her mother. The subsequent murder trial made for the biggest headlines of the year, its drama eclipsing every Hollywood movie. New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman pulls back Tinseltown's velvet curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of celebrity, rife with toxic masculinity and casual violence against women, and tells the story of Lana Turner and her daughter, who finally stood up to the abuse that plagued their family for years. A Murder in Hollywood transports us back to the golden age of film and illuminates one of the 20th century's most notorious true crime tales.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Biography, Film, Audiobook

9 pages, Audiobook

First published February 13, 2024

About the author

Casey Sherman is a New York Times Bestselling Author of 13 books including The Finest Hours (now a major motion picture starring Casey Affleck & Chris Pine), Boston Strong (the basis for the film Patriots Day starring Mark Wahlberg), Animal & Hunting Whitey.
Sherman is also the author of 12, Search for the Strangler, Animal, Bad Blood, Black Irish, Black Dragon, Above & Beyond and The Ice Bucket Challenge.
Sherman is a contributing writer for TIME, Esquire, Washington Post, Boston Herald and Boston Magazine and has appeared as a guest an analyst on more than 100 television news programs.
Sherman is a graduate of Barnstable High School (Cape Cod), Fryeburg Academy (Fryeburg, Me.) and Boston University.

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey Sherman has done a fabulous job researching and weaving the tale about Lana Turner's life and the death of Johnny Stompanato, a close associate of the West Coast mob, Mickey Cohen. Lana's entire life, from childhood through adulthood, is marred with tragedy, bad relationships, domestic abuse, and misogyny. Lana's fourteen year old daughter takes the blame for stabbing Stompanato.

Fascinating story about Hollywood, actors, actresses, and the mob.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was first posted on Mystery & Suspense Magazine. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/a-...



Lana Turner

Lana Turner was an American actress whose five-decade career spanned the 1930s to the 1980s. Among other things, Turner's body of work includes classic films like 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946), 'Peyton Place' (1957), 'Imitation of Life' (1959), and 'Madame X' (1966), as well as television shows like 'The Survivors' and 'Falcon Crest.' Turner is also famous for her romance with gangster Johnny Stompanato, who was killed in Lana's Beverly Hills home on the evening of April 4, 1958.










Lana Turner in 'The Survivors' with George Hamilton (standing) and Kevin McCarthy


Lana Turner and Jane Wyman on the set of 'Falcon Crest'

In this book, author Casey Sherman discusses Turner's life and career as well as the mobsters who infiltrated Los Angeles in the 1900s, especially Mickey Cohen, boss of the Cohen crime family. At one point Cohen hired Johnny Stompanato to be his bodyguard, and the two men became good friends and partners in crime.


Mob boss Mickey Cohen


Mob boss Mickey Cohen was the subject of myriad headlines


Gangster Johnny Stompanato

Lana Turner, born in Idaho in 1921, was named Julia Jean (and called Judy) by her parents Mildred and Virgil Turner. The Turners were estranged when Virgil was murdered in 1929, a tragedy that haunted Lana forever. Years later, after Lana experienced much drama in her life, she wrote "The shock I suffered then may be a valid excuse for me now. I know that my father's sweetness and gaiety, his warmth and his tragedy have never been that far from me; that, and a sense of loss and of growing up too fast."


Young Judy Turner

Judy and her mother moved to Los Angeles in 1936, and beautiful teenage Judy was discovered in a soda shop by Billy Wilkerson, publisher of the 'Hollywood Reporter.'


Publisher Billy Wilkerson

Before long Judy was renamed Lana and getting small parts in movies, which eventually became major roles. Sherman writes a good bit about the toxic Hollywood culture, and bigwigs like producer David O. Selznick, who had a casting couch for young actresses. Powerful men in the industry seemed to consider this behavior to be commonplace, and their due. Swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn, who seduced underage Lana, wrote in his memoir, "You saw a young lady you fancied and you'd say, 'star's perks!'


Producer David O. Selznick with actress Joan Fontaine


Actor Errol Flynn

Turner - who was always looking for love - was easily enamored, had numerous affairs, and married one man after another. Lana was wed to bandleader Artie Shaw; restaurateur Steve Crane; millionaire socialite Henry J. Topping Jr.; and Tarzan actor Lex Barker.


Lana Turner and her first husband Artie Shaw


Lana Turner and her second husband Steve Crane


Lana Turner and her third husband Henry Topping Jr.


Lana Turner and her fourth husband Lex Barker

Lana had her daughter Cheryl with Steve Crane, and young Cheryl was sexually molested by Lex Barker when the actor was married to Lana. It seems that, though Turner was incredibly successful in her career, she was dismally unlucky in her private life.


Lana Turner and her daughter Sheryl Crane

Lana's bad luck came to a head with handsome mobster Johnny Stompanato, who made it his business to meet Turner in 1957.


Lana Turner and her boyfriend Johnny Stompanato

Crime boss Mickey Cohen and his henchman Stompanato had a plan to extort Lana, who had amassed a fortune from her film roles. Sherman writes, "The two gangsters reverse engineered the classic honey trap scheme, using Stompanato as bait to lure Lana into bed. They would need to stage a threesome of some kind while Cohen's men surreptitiously filmed the sex act." Cohen and Stompanato believed Lana would pay any amount to safeguard her reputation and maintain her career. According to Sherman, the two hoodlums regularly perpetrated this scheme, and their victims included superstars such as Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and Spencer Tracy.


Mickey Cohen (right) and Johnny Stompanato

In any case, Stompanato fell in love with Turner while trying to execute the blackmail plan, and he decided to become a movie producer. So the hoodlum made it his business to become Lana's REAL boyfriend.


Lana Turner and her boyfriend Johnny Stompanato

Unfortunately for Lana, Stompanato was a controlling abusive man who shouted at the star, threatened her, hit her, and made her life miserable. Lana's teenage daughter Cheryl would sometimes hear the loud arguments between Lana and Stompanato, and become concerned for her mother.

All this came to a head on the evening of April 4, 1958, when Turner and Stompanato were in Lana's bedroom, and the actress tried to break it off with the mobster. Cheryl heard the resultant shouting and cursing and ran into her mother's room. Subsequently, Stompanato was stabbed with a newly purchased, sharp, eight-inch kitchen knife. Sherman writes, "With one thrust, the blade penetrated his abdomen, slicing into one of his kidneys, striking a vertebra, and puncturing his aorta. He stepped away from the knife, a plume of blood now expanding from where the weapon had entered his body. Johnny Stompanato, gangster, conman, and abuser, was dead."


Johnny Stompanato was stabbed to death in Lana Turner's bedroom


Mickey Cohen viewing Johnny Stompanato's body

The author goes on to discuss who stabbed Stompanato, the aftermath of the incident, and the continuing angst in Turner's life. Sherman includes his own speculations about the homicide, as well as a bibliography of works he used to research the book. Will the whole truth ever be known? Time will tell.


Lana Turner had a long and successful career

This is a well-written, engaging book about Lana Turner, Hollywood, and American gangsters. Highly recommended to true crime aficionados.

Thanks to Netgalley, Casey Sherman, and Sourcebooks for a copy of the book.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read lots of books about classic Hollywood actresses and they all had terrible taste in men but I have to say Lana Turner was the Queen of that. Every single man she fell in love with was horrible. They all were abusive to her and at least one sexually abused her young daughter Cheryl. Lana Turner's real life was more dramatic than any role she ever played. I haven't seen many of her films but I did grow up loving the super problematic movie The Imitation of Life and a few years ago I watched The Postman Always Rings Twice.

A Murder in Hollywood tells the wilder than fiction story of Hollywood superstar Lana Turner's relationship with mobster Johnny Stompanato and his eventual murder at the hands of either Lana Turner or her 14 year old daughter Cheryl. I had heard of this scandal before but I had never read or seen a deep dive into it. Despite the courts decision that Cheryl stabbed Johnny in defense of her mother most people believe Lana Turner stabbed him in self defense and then a team of lawyers and publicists decided to "blame" Cheryl to save Lana's career and life. Johnny Stompanato was a close associate of the infamous mobster Mickey Cohen who after Johnny's murder promised to avenge the death of his friend.

This book is a must read for lovers of True Crime and lovers of gangster tales. This book is a treasure trove of classic Hollywood scandals. If a Hollywood screenwriter had tried to sell this story nobody would have believed it. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey Sherman has written a wonderful book about the murder of Johnny Stompanato, and all that was Lana Turner. Lana was a star, one of the biggest stars Hollywood had, but she had troubles in her personal life. Numerous failed marriages, including some that even put her daughter Cheryl at risk when one of her husbands apparently turned out to be a pedophile. She would jump from man-to-man, and then she met Johnny Stompanato and things went downhill. This is a book that got glamour, Hollywood, the mob, and some really sleazy characters. A perfect weekend read! I loved this book, and the research that the author did was top-notch. We go through all of Lana's life to the fateful murder inquest regarding the possibility that her daughter Cheryl had killed Johnny Stompanato. Johnny and Mickey Cohen had basically set up Lena to be what is known as a "honey trap" and they would try to use photographs of Lana in compromising sexual positions to then blackmail her. This was a common theme back in the days. they never expected Johnny to fall in love with Lana, and to be so physically demanding to the point where he would beat her up. There was a lot of abuse that went on in that relationship and all of this is well documented. While the author never comes out and proves that Lana was actually the killer of Johnny Stompanato, everything certainly seems to point to that. The bottom line is, if there's ever a person deserved to get what he got, it was Johnny. Nonetheless, this is one heckuva read, and a book I give it a outstanding 4.5 stars.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a riveting read and tells the story of Lana Turner's turbulent life. She was married many times and never for love, it seems. There are explanations of the many ties to mobsters. I found the machinations of Hollywood during this time fascinating.

The one thing I don't get, and maybe it's because I rarely read true crime, is Sherman's description of how Lana Turner murderd Johnny Stampanato. While it certainly seems possible, I feel like since this is supposedly true crime that there should be factual basis for this this, not just conjecture. I don't see any factual evidence of this.

I did enjoy the read and found it informative. Recommended to anyone who likes books about Hollywood and movie stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks through Netgalley for an advance copy. Expected publication on February 13, 2024.

[Jill Crosby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally! A well-researched book about the murder of underling mob figure John Stompanato, allegedly by Cheryl Crane, 14-year-old daughter of Hollywood legend, Lana Turner.

Or so I thought. This book spends more time discussing the life of monster Mickey Cohen, Stompanato’s boss, than it does about the lives of Turner or crane. Pretty much EVERYTHING written in the book is easily available on the internet, and the in-depth reporting on the actual murder and aftermath only take up about a fifth of the 240 page book. No additional insight into the killing is offered, no new research conducted. What we get is a long People Magazine article, with nothing new to examine. There are even fewer pictures than you’d think in a book about a Hollywood legend—a few black and white blurry thumbnails are tucked sporadically here and there, and reveal very little about the people or the story.
Finally—as if to looking for a reason to make this very bland book relevant, the author tacks on a “hail to the feminist hero Lana Turner,” which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story he’s just spent a couple of hundred pages creating; it was like he was offering a reason for the work he’d put into the manuscript that raised no new questions about who the murderer really was, or provided no new information he’d uncovered. It’s like he sat back, looked at the last page, and said, “Well—if I pitch Lana Turner as one of Hollywood’s first true feminist victims who overcomes life’s obstacles, it’ll all fall into place.” FALSE. It’s as though the author buried his tentative thesis statement in the end notes, just hedging his bets a little.

[Lisa Leone-campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

True Crime investigator/writer Casey Sherman has written an awe-dropping account of movie star Lana Turner’s life and what led up to the death of her boyfriend, mobster Johnny Stompanato, as well as the effect it had on both her and her 15-year-old daughter Cheryl.

Sherman intricately delves into the history of both Lana Turner, her life prior to Stompanato’s death which occurred in her bedroom as he was allegedly beating her, which sadly was nothing unusual. When her daughter heard the commotion, she allegedly came into the room and stabbed Stompanato in the stomach. He also gives a history of the rise of the mob and how they were able to not only manipulate the Hollywood studios, but how they were able to manipulate her.

Ms. Turner’s life unfortunately was filled with trauma, abuse and abandonment from men in her life, including her own father. It covers how she became famous by infamously being “discovered” in a diner at a very young age.

Sherman also takes the reader into the lives of mobster Mickey Cohen as well as Johnny Stompanato and in great detail writes to what led up to the killing and the effects it had after the fact on Turner, her daughter and even Cohen.

Lana Turner’s life story is heartbreaking. Married many times, she seemed to always pick someone who would physically or mentally abuse her (or her young daughter) or steal her money. Because of her fame, she put her daughter on the backburner as she tried to live up to her bombshell image, which after a while began to fade. She then had to try and reinvent herself over and over again as new younger bombshells came on the scene.

Of course, the most riveting account was the story and facts of her relationship with Stompanato and how she was unable to get away from him and how he continually abused and threatened her. Sherman takes the reader step by step of not only their relationship but what is said to have occurred during the killing and smoothly moves into what happened next as well as the trial and Mickey Cohen’s hatred of Lana Turner after the death of his friend.

A Murder in Hollywood is a juicy can’t put down tell-all of a beloved, beautiful yet tortured movie star whose introduction to stardom was too fast and as she naively believed all the men who ran the studios had her well-being and would take care of her. Unfortunately, that would never happen, and her life was filled with abuses and overwhelming sadness. Yet, because of the actress she was no one would have ever guessed she lived her life practically walking on eggshells.

Thank you #NetGalley #Sourcebooks #CaseySherman #AMurderinHollywood for the advanced copy.

[Jody Reads Smut · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lets us encounter the Old Hollywood, diving into the glamorous underworld of true crime and mobsters. A real pageturner is something that keeps the readers out of intrigue from the very beginning until the end. Shorter could have been the backstories of Lana and Mickey Cohen; however, the plot pops. With Johny Stompanato appearing, the story becomes captivating, and he introduces another subplot in which mystery and danger are involved.

The ease with which the author deals with these issues is visibly portrayed in a thought-provoking manner without resorting to sensationalism or changing the truth. The writing approach is maintained throughout, and a moderate voice is used, making the readers absorb the information and feel themselves being a part of the story. The book warns that in the realm of the famous, the rich, and the powerful, skeletons and unsavory truths can be unveiled with careful digging and subtle poking.

Overall, this lengthy paragraph reflects the book’s talent in hypnotizing the audience over Old Hollywood, true crime, and mobsters. With the author’s skilled narrative and impartial approach, the book is a must-read for people trying to unmask the profound truths of the film industry.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

[Mariama Thorlu-Bangura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casey Sherman's "A Murder in Hollywood" is a tale that combines the glitz and glamour of Hollywood with the danger & violence of the mafia underworld.

Lana Turner is a star from the Golden Age era of Hollyood. On the surface, he life seems perfect: she's a film star with a beautiful daughter and a cushy lifestyle. But the reality was far different. Sherman provides an in-depth look at the turbulent life she actually lived. The men Turner got involved with never seemed to truly have her best interests at heart. Instead, she was just a pretty piece of arm candy they often mistreated. Her relationship with mobster Johnny Stompanato would be the worst yet. After prolonged physical and emotional abuse, Turner had enough. But the relationship would end tragically: Stompanato ended up dead, stabbed by Turner's daughter in defense of her mother --as they claimed. What followed was the circus of a Hollywood murder trial, one that overshadowed the bread and butter of Hollywood: movies.

True crime Hollywood at its finest. Definitely a five-star read.

Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

[Becka · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Murder in Hollywood is billed as nonfiction, yet it reads as a poorly written dime-store novel. The author creates sensationalist imagined dialogue, which doesn’t belong in a book claiming to be NONfiction. If you want a novel about an Old Hollywood murder that focuses on sexual exploitation, then you might like this. If you’re looking for an investigative, fact-based telling of an Old Hollywood murder, this one is a hard pass.

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Darcia Helle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this book, but it just didn’t work for me.

The writing lacks emotion and depth. The weird thing is that there is a lot of detail on unimportant, tangential people and events, but a surprising lack of detail and examination of people and events that matter.

Sentence structure is often clunky, and there’s simply too much jumping around.

Also, the author provides inner thoughts and dialogue that are conjecture at best, which makes me question how much is fact and how much is actually fiction.

DNF at 39%

*I received an eARC from Sourcebooks, via NetGalley.*

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. After slogging through entirely made-up dialog between the characters (because the story starts out 100 years ago or so) when I got to the misspelled San Fransisco I realized what crap this book is.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look into the Lana Turner / Johnny Stompanato relationship and his death.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read Casey Sherman’s Helltown and was disappointed that he blended true crime with fiction to make a serial killer appear more impressive. I didn’t see anything in the description that “A Murder in Hollywood” followed the same path so I dived in with higher expectations. I’ve seen a number of Lana Turner’s movies, but I didn’t know much about her personal life and I know even less about organized crime during the golden age of Hollywood. Casey Sherman’s book is written with ease. The chapters are short and he keeps the book on track alternating between Lana Turner and gangster Micheal Cohen. Sherman weaves Hollywood glamour with the underworld of 1950s gangsters to give the reader a full picture of the times. It’s easy to get hooked and find yourself unable to stop reading.

No one in this book is likable and Sherman doesn’t make any excuses for their behavior. The book dives into the underworld as it was run by Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. It details Lana Turner’s rise to fame, her many failed marriages and how she became involved with Mickey Cohen’s sidekick, Johnny Stompanato. It all ends with Stompanato dead in Lana Turner’s bedroom. I was unfamiliar with this crime so towards the end of the book I looked online to see pictures of Lana Turner testifying in court. That’s when I realized that once again Sherman weaved fiction so seamlessly into the book. It was Lana Turner’s daughter Cheryl who was charged with killing Stompanato. The depiction of Stompanato’s death in the book is built by a conspiracy theory that Lana had actually been the one to kill him and her daughter took the blame. Cheryl has denied that Lana had anything to do it throughout her life. Yet, Sherman writes like his version is the truth, as if he was in the room when it happened. It makes him an untrustworthy narrator for me because he doesn’t tell the reader what he’s written is conjecture. While I found the book captivating, I’d rather watch it play out in the tv series that’s being developed. At least there I won’t feel duped and mislead because everything is changed for tv.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this biography.

Lana Turner became a star in the late '40s and '50s. This book begins with the murder of her father in San Francisco and her mother's rush to move herself and her daughter to Hollywood to hide from the killer. She apparently was discovered at a soda fountain near her high school and put under contract to MGM. She started slowly, but soon became known as "the sweater girl". As she became more famous she began to have disastrous relationships with men she didn't get to know well. After four terrible marriages, she met Johnny Stompanado who worked with Mickey Cohen, the Hollywood gangster. He eventually took over her life, slapping her around and controlling her. When he ended up dead on her bedroom floor, her lawyer set up the script for Lana and her daughter Cheryl, saying that Cheryl had stabbed him with an 8 inch kitchen knife. The book is ambiguous about the truth, as Lana lived the rest of her life afraid that she would be investigated. Cheryl wrote her own tell-all novel called Detour which I read years ago, and I just assumed that her story was the truth, but this book leaves me wondering. But what I really get from this book is the sad life for glamour girls in Hollywood. She married the men she did to avoid scandals about affairs. If she had only taken her relationships more slowly she would probably have had less drama and tears. I believe she have four more husbands after Stompanado so what did she learn? Did she ever learn to feel happy and confident? Maybe not.

[Tammy Buchli · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I liked the alternating narrative between Turner’s story, which I was pretty familiar with going in, and the story of the LA mob, which I knew much less about.

My problems with the book were two, and I bumped my rating down one star per problem. First of all, I disliked the way Sherman put dialogue into the mouths of the individuals in the book. I suppose authors do this believing it will increase the readability of their books, but I don’t like it. To me, paraphrased dialogue (as opposed to authentic and cited quotes) has no place in a non-fiction book.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, Sherman stated his hypothesis (that Turner actually stabbed Stompanato herself and let her daughter take the blame) as if it was established truth. He didn’t provide any compelling evidence and - speaking for myself - was not at all convincing. I read Cheryl Crane’s book, Detour, in which she confessed to the stabbing and find it much more believable than Sherman’s deduction.

[Stormie ~ Book Dragon ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true crime novel published in February about a murder that happened in April 1957, involving Lana Turner and her daughter Cheryl Crane, that made the headlines because a well-known actress was involved in a homicide against a "wanna-be gangster." Lana started as a child actress in the early days of Hollywood and movies, when women and young girls were exploited and some just accepted it. Women thought they had to endure this to get noticed and be in the film industry. All the men in her life disappointed her. She tried to find love and none of her relationships seemed to work. Men used her either for her money or to make a name for themselves because they were with a famous actress. This was a time when a lot of women had to suffer domestic violence in silence, but Lana took control of her life and when she dated Johnny Stompanato, she suffered the worst abuse of all.
Stompanato became a close friend of Mickey Cohen, who became a mob gangster by not taking crap off of people and taking what he wanted. Cohen did not take this well when his so-called bodyguard was killed, it didn't matter what he did, he wanted to make Lana pay for what she did. There may have been a lot of inconsistencies in what happened the night Johnny was killed and her daughter had to take the rap for this, but we may never know what happened.
The book even called out Errol Flynn and Lex Barker (Tarzan) for being pedophiles.
The book mentions other people who wrote memoirs and also mentions their take on this event, so they are now added to my list. I borrowed this book from the library as I do with most books, and if I like it well enough or if it is some historical event, then I want to research it more, I can't help myself, I thirst for knowledge and I want to know more. So, I will be heading to Barnes & Noble next week for my monthly book purchases and this will be one on the list...well, I can't annotate a library book now, can I?

I just wanted to add, that I know what she went through. In June I had to call the police on my fiance for domestic violence and he was in jail from June 4 to August 30, and then they let him out. I had enough and had to finally stand up for myself. I went through a lot these last few years. I don't want to put too much out there but just want to say that her story and what she went through resonated with me. I did not harm my now ex-fiance, I let the law handle it and they didn't do a very good job of it, but I understand that she did what she had to. I enjoyed the way that Sherman "told the tale," although it was hard for me to get through the part about domestic violence. I plan to find some more of his books to read. He has a way of activating the reader in my opinion.

4.5****

[Tahera · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion marketing the book as an 'untold story of tinseltown's most shocking crime' is bit of a stretch considering one has to just type Lana Turner's name in the search bar to find detailed stories and articles about this case spread across the internet. I knew about this case years before this book published.

There is nothing new added to this book except for fictional dialogues and a separate narrative of Mickey Cohen's life and dealings as a gangster which in the grand scheme of things has no strong connection to the actual case except for him being Johnny Stompanato's boss.

Lana Turner's story covers her childhood and her journey towards Hollywood success which is, in proportions, filled with physical, sexual and substance abuse. I don't know if it was her insecurity or plainly her preference but Lana Turner had terrible taste in men! With one disastrous relationship after another, Lana still continued to choose violent men, who not only mistreated her but also sexually preyed on her young daughter Cheryl. 

The one place where the author veers away from the narrative is his 'claim' that it was not Cheryl but Lana Turner who stabbed Stompanato to death and as a minor Cheryl only took the blame to protect her mother, with the subsequent murder trial being Lana's performance of a lifetime.

I don't know if the author has any solid proof for this 'claim' because he never shares any evidence for his POV in the book but anyone who has read the articles on the internet will know that even to this day, after years having passed and all the main players being long dead, Cheryl maintains that she solely acted on her own accord when she stabbed Stompanato to protect her mother, with Lana having no prior knowledge as to what would tranpire.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author himself.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

[Andrea- The Shelf Life Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a riveting read and tells the story of Lana Turner's turbulent life. She was married many times but seemed for a purpose, not love. On the surface, her life seems perfect: she's a film star with a beautiful daughter and a lavish lifestyle. But her reality was far different.

Lana’s relationship with mobster Johnny Stompanato would be the worst yet. After prolonged physical and emotional abuse, Turner finally had enough. When Lana was going to tell Johnny the relationship was over and to move out, Johnny Stompanato ended up dead. He was fatally stabbed by Turner's daughter Cheryl in defense of her mother. If this was what really happened, why was Lana’s first call to one of the most famous Hollywood lawyers, Jerry Giesler? Jerry Giesler was a household name in Hollywood. The question lingers…is that what really happened, or is that the story they put together?

I really enjoyed this true-crime novel. It was fast paced and easy to read. I have heard so many theories of how it was Lana who stabbed Johnny…but I thought that the book kept it to a minimum, which I appreciated. The only people that will ever know the truth, Johnny, Cheryl, Lana and Lana’s mother Mildred. I would recommend this book to all true crime lovers and readers.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, Source Books and the Author, Casey Sherman for this ARC of A Murder in Hollywood. Expected publication on February 13, 2024.

[John Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book was a real eye-opener for me. I knew about the murder of Johnny Stompanato and the controversy as to who killed him: Lana Turner or her daughter Cheryl. What surprised and saddened me was how Lana Turner was treated by the men in her life. I had no idea that she had been treated so miserably by not only the romantic partners she had but by movie executives and business-type men as well. And as far as I am concerned there were no reasons or excuses for these men to justify their treatment of her. I'm not so naive to not realize or be aware that women under the studio system for many years were just commodities to be used, objectified, exploited and then discarded when no longer needed. Nevertheless, what happened to her is revolting. And unfortunately, it was like that in society as well. I believe the phrase "barefoot and pregnant" could apply, and the notion that women should be seen and not heard. Lana Turner did stand up for her dignity and rights as best she could, and I admire her for that. It's ultimately a very sad story about Lana in particular and women in general. How organized mob got its hooks into Hollywood and just the story itself of Micky Cohen, Bugsy, Siegel, etc. is fascinating in and of itself. A solid history of the people and of the time in Hollywood and America.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The death of Johnny Stompanado is far from an "untold story," but Casey Sherman builds it up through the biographies of Mickey Cohen and Lana Turner. It reads like a nonfiction novel and I appreciated the author's candor in identifying various Hollywood film industry types as sexual predators. Stompanado's assassin is different than the story in Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon," contemporary news stories, or court records, but makes a lot more sense; as does the coverup. Overall an enjoyable read.

[Diane OLeary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was young when this murder happened and I do not recall it in real time. The first Hollywood scandal I do remember is the Debbie/Eddie/Liz one which happened a year later and so began my love of Hollywood and the stars! I am an old movie fan and have read many books and articles on how the studios protected their stars and covered up their crimes and transgressions. I always believed Lana killed Johnny and this book confirms my theory although I suppose we will never really know the true facts. This is a riveting story about Lana Turner's horrible taste in men and a must read for movie buffs.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to on audio.

I think read by the author?

Some parts really, really tedious.

I thought the narrator’s “mobster’s” voice was very typical and hilarious.

I had heard about this incidence from my mom, who loved the old movies and movie stars.

Lana really lived a wild life, lots of lovers and husbands. Not the best environment for a child.

IMHO, she killed him and had her daughter take the rap.

Stories like these make me not envy the rich and famous.

[Maria Almaguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always thought that Cheryl Crane, only daughter of famous movie star Lana Turner, killed her mother's abusive gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato (right hand man to master criminal thug, Mickey Cohen), but this book turns that theory on its heel. Turner was one of MGM's biggest stars in the 1940s and 1950s, but her personal life was tumultuous and dramatic--this woman just kept picking horrible men which, given her experience with her father, isn't surprising. An engrossing account of a high profile Hollywood murder case, this is recommended for all true crime fans.

[C.G. Twiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lana Turner was already the biggest star in the world when she skyrocketed to even more fame during a lurid inquisition after the killing of her abusive mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. It was Lana's 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl, who wielded the knife. She had rushed into the middle of an argument in an attempt to protect her mother from a beating. This, at least, is the story that has always been told up until at least 2017 when the narrative began to turn, with Lana being pinpointed as the real killer.

While this book was fascinating and I tore through it, the author, Casey Sherman, also takes the stance that it was Lana who killed Johnny, not her teenaged daughter. However, it's done in such a roundabout way that I had to go back and read the key portions several times to absorb what the author was saying. I'm not sure why it wasn't written in a more straightforward way. Additionally, though I poured over the bibliography, I could not figure out where Sherman got his information. There is a book by a man named Darwin Porter, published in 2017, that purports that a detective who was at the crime scene, Fred Otash, confessed before his death to helping Lana's lawyer, Jerry Geisler, come up with a story to save Lana from the electric chair by blaming Cheryl, as she was a teen and would likely be let go. (As it was, the teen spent significant amounts of time in jail.) Conveniently, most of the people who were there that fatal night, other than Cheryl, are dead. I have no idea how credible Porter, or even Otash, are. I'm not sure I buy any of it. Cheryl has always stuck to her story that she killed Stompanato, and I'll be curious to see if she has anything to say about this book.

It's quite possible that it was Lana who did it. But it's also quite possible it was Cheryl. The crime scene could have been altered because Lana wanted to protect her daughter and take the fall until her lawyer convinced her that Cheryl would stand a much better chance of getting off. It's also no surprise that a large, tough man like Stompanato could have been killed by a teen—first off, Cheryl was quite tall, much taller than Lana. Secondly, she caught him utterly by surprise.

Another thing—the Porter book also says that Lana stabbed Johnny because she walked in on Cheryl and Stompanato in bed together. Sherman conveniently leaves this part out. If you're going to repeat one theory, why not the other? And does anyone seriously believe that 14-year-old Cheryl was in bed with her mother's boyfriend—while her mother was home?! Come on. Sherman, probably sensing that this victim-blaming theory wouldn't go over well post-MeToo (he thanks the movement in the liner notes), doesn't bring up this idea at all.

At any rate, if Sherman does believe Lana did it (and he appears to), he should have explained this more thoroughly and cited his sources. Also, he apparently knows what was going through Lana's mind as she stabbed Johnny—she "went black" with rage. Where is the source for this?

I give it 4 stars because it was a riveting read. Just have my doubts about the reporting.

Thank you to Casey Sherman, the publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. * Note: I mistakenly wrote "Cheryl did it" in my review and NetGalley doesn't offer a way to edit reviews, but it is corrected here.

[Danielle]

I had never heard of Lana Turner before this book, which is suprising considering the company she kept and the actors/actresses with whom she worked. As well as her scandalous life. It made me wonder why was she not as much an icon as people like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and other actors with whom she worked.

It even shone a light on the cattiness and jealousy of other actresses at the time, I didn't realise how insecure and petty the industry leaders were, but given the circumstances I do see how it was, and still is, a dog eat dog world.

I did have to fact check a few things, and I came away from the book wondering if Cheryl really did kill Johnny as she has always said and stood by.

I find it interesting as to how Hollywood has not changed much and how the #metoo movement is so recent even though men have been in a position of power, and have exerted it in the most hideous and devastating ways for decades upon decades.

The story of Lana is quite sad. She was degraded, called talentless and not chosen for her brain or acting skills. She was taken advantage of and that became her normal, which was probably the reason she let people treat her like a second class citizen.

Lana jumped from relationship to relationship- the classic "daddy issues" tale, where she looked for love in all the wrong places and never clung to anything real. She married several times, all to avoid gossip and her name being ruined. The men abused her and Johnny may have been her snapping point.

While I do see how Cheryl could have also been at breaking point after watching her mother jump from man to man and being abused and treated in the worst ways possible, it makes me second guess whether Cheryl actually committed the crime, and not Lana, with Cheryl taking the blame due to her being a minor.l with less repercussions.

I also found the parallels between Lana and Marilyn Monroe's lives interesting, especially given that Lana advised Marilyn in her younger years. But, as we know, history tends to repeat itself.

It brings into question just how many Hollywood starlets preceding the #metoo movement were taken advantage of. The image of old Hollywood glamour is definitely tainted and lately it has been shown, more and more often, that all that glitters is not gold.

This book was fast paced and interesting but it left out a few "facts" and "theories" that I would have liked to be explored (eg Lana catching Cheryl in bed with Johnny- though I see this as a ridiculous theory, it would have been nice to see it fleshed out and even disproved) and I do wish the narrative was more straight forward.

Overall the story of Lana is heartbreaking. She deserved more than what life (and Hollywood) handed her. She deserved love and respect.

[Audrey (BooksandAudities) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, out of all of the 'golden age of Hollywood' stars I've watched over the years, Lana Turner wasn't one of them. Going into A Murder in Hollywood, I knew very little of the actress and had no knowledge she was involved in a murder investigation.
Throughout this book Sherman not only lead up to the aforementioned event with great detail, he did it fluidly. There were so many different moving parts and people to help portray Lana's life, and it was written well.

Very interested in looking into this authors backlist.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to leave this review.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really liked this authors writing style. I will definitely be reading more of his works. I knew who Lana Turner was but wasn't born at the time of this event so was very unaware of it. The whole story was fascinating for me and makes me wonder did her daughter truly commit the murder? Some reviewers feel the author makes claim, in a roundabout way, that Lana did it. I didn't get that sense, but felt that he laid out the facts and left it up to the reader to decide. A really good book and thoroughly researched. Includes a few pictures. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Maddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not call this a nonfiction book exactly. It is more like a fiction book that is aspiring to be nonfiction. There are too many reenactments with actions and dialogues that could in no way be known to the writer. Unless the author was physically present when it happened, it is just fiction. There would also be no way to describe what the characters felt and thought in those moments. Sure, reenactments are great to further the understanding of how things happened, but it is pushing it too far. There is a lot of artistic, creative license taken in regards to how it happened, what exactly was said and who felt and thought what. A lot.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember watching a thing on TV [when I was a teenager] that talked about Lana Turner and the murder of Johnny Stompanato and was so intrigued by something that seemed so awful to my young teenage self, and then I promptly forgot about it. I had not, at that point, seen any of Lana Turner's movies [and to this day, still have not], though I knew about them of course [I watched the "old" movies with my beloved Aunt, and we watched who and what she liked and apparently Ms. Turner was not a part of that like ;-) ], but she was never really on my radar. So when I saw this book was about her [and the author was someone I had read before and enjoyed], I knew I needed to request/read it.

Whoosh.

This book is a lot of a lot. I went back and forth between feeling completely sorry for Ms. Turner and then in the next moment wanting to just shake her for some of the idiotic choices she made [Johnny Stompanato being one of the biggest ones, though her marriage with Lex Barker would be disastrous for her daughter Cheryl]. My true sorrow was for her daughter Cheryl who endured so much and had to watch her mother being abused over and over and over again - she truly had no childhood and I believe she would have done anything to save her mother from death.

If you love Old Hollywood and the stars from that time, this is a really good book for you. It never shies away from all the seriously damaging things that the men who controlled Hollywood did to the women who worked for them and how that played out between the stars and then also with their relationships - it will absolutely change your perspective of that time.

Whether or not you believe that Ms. Turner was the one who really wielded the knife that day, or if it was truly Cheryl Crane, this book will lead you down the path to that day. will present all the evidence and then leave the choice up to you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Casey Sherman, and SOURCEBOOKS (non-fiction) for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.