Great snappy dialogue, a nice little mystery, but the last 50 pages is what killed it for me. Took me 5 days to read those fifty pages. Really painful, overly pedantic critique of itself written by another character. The only reason why I'm giving it two stars instead of one is because the first 190 pages are pleasant enough to read. ( )

In her first film, Estella Lamarre was one of two women in a love triangle. It was her big chance and she played her part well, so McCabe, the number two cutter, is shocked when he's told to cut Estella out of the picture. Later Estella ends up dead in the cutting room, and McCabe joins up with Smith, a Scotland Yard detective, to investigate her death.

This book was first published in 1937 and it's an oddity. McCabe is author, narrator, detective, and it's possible that he might be a murderer. At first the story just doesn't make sense, but that's because McCabe has left things out. Smith fills in some of the gaps, then other characters fill in some more. There are diversions into existentialism and politics; characters come and go for reasons that don't become clear until near the end.

The last quarter of the book is a big surprise, unlike anything that came before. Can't say more in case I ruin it. ( )