A review by merlin_reads
The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick
3.0
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood in the 1930's was what sparked my interest in this book. It's an era of speakeasy's, starlets, classic actors...just pure glamour. Throw in a little mystery and you have my attention.
When Anna Harris discovers her boss has been murdered, she flees to California with only the clothes on her back and a notebook that belonged to her late boss - a notebook that people are willing to kill for. Once in California, she changes her name to Irene and is now a reporter for a small time Hollywood gossip magazine. However, it seems that murder just seems to follow her around as the informant she was supposed to meet up with is found floating in the hotel pool.
This was my first Amanda Quick novel - I've read the author under another name. And I basically found this book okay. It had a good mystery around it: was an upcoming Hollywood leading man killing woman? And why was the notebook Irene still had so important? But in a way, it had too much mystery. With two giant mysteries happening, it was hard to keep track of what information went with what and the cases got jumbled. While the notebook mystery may not have been enough to hold a novel by itself, the other case was so jumbled that it overshadowed Irene's problem making me forget about it multiple times.
The most interesting character to me was Oliver Ward , the elusive hotel manager. Everyone else was just kind of blah, even Irene herself. I think because there was so much plot, we never really got the chance to get to know the characters really well. And I'm the type of person who needs the characters to be real. Also, that ending rubbed me the wrong way and just seemed rushed.
Overall, it was a good book and the thriller aspect held up. If you're looking for just the facts of the case type of book this is for you. Just be warned there's no real character development.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
When Anna Harris discovers her boss has been murdered, she flees to California with only the clothes on her back and a notebook that belonged to her late boss - a notebook that people are willing to kill for. Once in California, she changes her name to Irene and is now a reporter for a small time Hollywood gossip magazine. However, it seems that murder just seems to follow her around as the informant she was supposed to meet up with is found floating in the hotel pool.
This was my first Amanda Quick novel - I've read the author under another name. And I basically found this book okay. It had a good mystery around it: was an upcoming Hollywood leading man killing woman? And why was the notebook Irene still had so important? But in a way, it had too much mystery. With two giant mysteries happening, it was hard to keep track of what information went with what and the cases got jumbled. While the notebook mystery may not have been enough to hold a novel by itself, the other case was so jumbled that it overshadowed Irene's problem making me forget about it multiple times.
The most interesting character to me was Oliver Ward , the elusive hotel manager. Everyone else was just kind of blah, even Irene herself. I think because there was so much plot, we never really got the chance to get to know the characters really well. And I'm the type of person who needs the characters to be real. Also, that ending rubbed me the wrong way and just seemed rushed.
Overall, it was a good book and the thriller aspect held up. If you're looking for just the facts of the case type of book this is for you. Just be warned there's no real character development.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.