Set in a historically real apartment complex in early Hollywood, the series is told through the eyes of newbie Marcus Adler as he witnesses the Garden’s residents lives and the unfolding evolution of Hollywood-as they are in the thick of it. This is Martin Turnbull’s first book in the successful 9-book series. The Garden on Sunset: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood (Hollywood’s Garden of Allah Novels Book 1) by Martin Turnbull In addition, the first African-American detective character was introduced during this time period with Death of the Conjure Man, written by Rudolph Fisher. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Patricia Wentworth, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, and, of course, John Dickson Carr. Some of those writers were Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. In the mean time, it was also a Golden Age in mystery fiction, with what became the genre’s classic writers penning incredible stories.

The peak eras of noir and glitzy Hollywood present a complex, intertwined tapestry of an industry that would never be the same after. Think femme fatales like Marlena Dietrich in The Devil is a Woman, Jane Greer in Out of the Past, and Rita Hayworth in Lady from Shanghai. Some of Hollywood’s most chic leading ladies also played starring roles in the noir genre. Hollywood, at its most golden was also a Hollywood at its darkest-film noir took off in the 1920s and arguably lasted until the 1950s. What better place to set a mystery, especially during the time when Hollywood was at its most glamorous-the Golden Age-when its smoke and mirrors often spun stories of gold out of gritty realities. On the one hand, glamour, fame, fortune, and on the other hand seedy deals, shady characters, and the casting couch. It’s not so far-fetched when we’re talking about Hollywood, which may be the most paradoxical place on earth.

The Garden on Sunset by Martin Turnbull