Round Up the Unusual Suspects
A Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mystery
by Elizabeth Crowens
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Pub Date 20 Jan 2026 | Archive Date 2 Aug 2026
Level Best Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
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Description
Against the backdrop of WWII, no one expected to find a murdered stagehand on a Warner Brothers sound stage. With so much at stake, Jack L. Warner hires Babs Norman and Guy Brandt, the two young private eyes who recently resolved his high-profile Maltese Falcon/Blackbird Killer Case. Social justice crusader Leon Lewis suspects local Nazi sympathizers are responsible. Lewis assigns a German stuntman, a veteran of the decadent subculture of Weimar Berlin nightlife and one of his newest operatives, to join forces with the private detectives.
According to Warner, the show must go on, but everything from bomb scares to the Japanese internment, to unruly parrots, forbidden love, and family crises conspires against solving the crime. “As Time Goes By,” actors Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and the rest of the Casablanca ensemble join the professional private eyes to round up the unusual suspects and capture the killer.
A Note From the Publisher
Ebook - 9798898201906
Advance Praise
“Fans of the movie Casablanca will love Round Up the Unusual Suspects! It was a pleasure to spend time with fictional versions of Bogart and Bergman and imagine what life on the set must have been like. The author has worked on many movies and TV shows, which made the book feel very authentic. Throw in a fun mystery, feisty PIs, some history about the 40s for people who were a little out of the mainstream, and you get an entertaining, thought-provoking read.”
— Matt Witten, bestselling author of Killer Story and Emmy-nominated screenwriter for Pretty Little Liars and House
“A witty, winning mystery that unfolds as a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood. Play it again, Elizabeth!”
— Daniel Stashower, Edgar Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The Hour of Peril and American Demon
“A murdered tech threatens to derail a studio’s biggest picture, so newly minted PIs Babs Norman and Guy Brandt are hired to keep the investigation quiet… and the cameras rolling. Navigating diva actors, shady crew members, and a director on the brink, they discover the killer is closer than they think. A zippy, irresistible page-turner, this Hollywood whodunit is pure gold.”
— Kelly Oliver, bestselling author of the Fiona Figg Mysteries and former National President of Sisters in Crime
“Round Up the Usual Suspects, the third installment in Elizabeth Crowens’ Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mysteries is a fast-paced, delightfully humorous romp through Old Hollywood. Fans of classic Hollywood movies will love spending time with the icons of film history. Cozy mystery fans will enjoy following Babs and Guy as they solve a murder complicated by backstage gossip, Nazi sympathizers, and a couple of wise-cracking parrots.”
— Connie Berry, award winning writer of the Kate Hamilton Mystery series and Immediate Past President of the Guppies online chapter of Sisters in Crime
“A fun romp through classic Hollywood with plenty of figures that the reader will recognize including some eye-opening facts about the history of the Japanese in California in WWII.”
— Clare Broyles of the Molly Murphy historical mystery series
“If you’d like old movies and solid mysteries, Elizabeth Crowens’ Round Up the Unusual Suspects will be right up your alley. Fast paced and full of old Hollywood glamour. Set against the backdrop of World War II, Crowens’ detailed research shows what it was to toil under the iron fist of both the studio heads and Uncle Sam.”
— Dan White, Telly and Communicator Awards winning host and creator of OutWithDan
“Get ready for a rollicking mystery set in Hollywood’s Golden Age! Elizabeth has woven an entertaining tale of intrigue that will give readers plenty to devour.”
— Karie Bible, Film historian, lecturer, co-author of Location Filming in Los Angeles, guest on TCM’s Hollywood Hideaways and Film Noir Fanatics, tour guide for Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and host of the Hollywood Kitchen podcast
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9798898201890 |
| PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 306 |