This is an epic tale of a book and wanna thoroughly enjoyed I absolutely love historical fiction Ian historical True Crime so I knew I would love a book that was historical crime fiction and I certainly dead I will be definitely looking forward to more books from this author as I found this one phenomenal. He offers a complex cast and brilliantly weaves their backstories throughout the book as he takes the reader back and forth in time. She is summoned by the powers that be to the mansion of actress Norma Carlton, one of the biggest stars in silent film. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Prevention, Health, Washingtonian, and numerous other publications.

It’s a period piece, transporting readers to a glamorous time in old Hollywood just before “talkies” started being made. However, he will find more than he bargained for, including one of the most creative twist endings I have experienced in ages. Craig Russell conjures not one but two unforgettable settings: Prague between the wars, pulsing with menace, and a Gothic mental asylum, as exciting a house of horrors as I’ve ever visited.

Cleverly weaving in the real and imaginary, this marvel of a book will spellbind you as sure as any bayou witch. One, the last known copy of the 1927 horror film “London After Midnight,” starring Lon Chaney — who also appears here — was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire. Craig Russell’s literary rights are represented by Esmond Harmsworth at Aevitas Creative Management, Boston. Other fascinating characters are Hippolyta Cormier and her daughter Anastasie, who lived in the Louisiana Bayou and were believed to be practitioners of dark magic. This could tank the film, so a quick fix must be enacted to ensure that the public never suspects suicide.

These chapters were also written in a more sophisticated, atmospheric style, adding a layer of complexity and mystique.Lindqvist runs away to join the Dahlman and Darke Magic Lantern Phantasmagoria circus after witnessing its sleight-of-hand act “where a dark shape spread itself wide. Forty years earlier, studio fixer Mary Rourke, known as the most connected person in Hollywood, is trying to solve the murder of Norma Carlton, the star of “The Devil’s Playground. Russell has created a truly frightening story, one that gets under your skin slowly, then goes deep, like the tip of a butcher knife. Readers may feel a voyeuristic thrill as the names of Hollywood royalty — Clara Bow, John Barrymore, and Mary Pickford, among others — are dropped into scenes. Not only does it have the old Hollywood glamour, but it touches on race, horror, magic and so much more.