Secrets, Stars & Slow Burns: A Review of DECEPTION (A Hollywood Mystery) by Britt Lind
- Kim Bartosch
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Step into the shadows of the glittering city of stars, where nothing is what it seems and everyone’s hiding something. Britt Lind’s DECEPTION (A Hollywood Mystery) pulls back the velvet curtain on fame, desire, and deception in a city that thrives on illusion. Published by Bublish, this adult mystery/thriller clocks in at 281 pages and promises a tangled web of lust, lies, and murder.
Thank you to the author for the book and my honest review. This tour is brought to you by iRead Book Tours. Be sure to read my full review and enter the giveaway!
Josh Sibley, a once-promising singer-songwriter now drowning his talent in booze, gets a shot at redemption when he lands a music gig for a multi-million-dollar film. Enter Lila Levy—a stunning but untalented actress (and, conveniently, the producer’s wife), who quickly becomes both his muse and his downfall. The chemistry is there, the red flags are waving like it’s a parade, and yet Josh walks headfirst into the chaos like a man on fire.
And then the murder happens. And Lila vanishes.
Cue the hard-nosed Sergeant Rosemaria Baker, the Hollywood-hating detective who smells something off about Josh’s wounded-artist routine. As she digs deeper, DECEPTION turns from a slow-burning industry drama into a full-fledged murder mystery with a noir-ish edge, peppered with Hollywood gossip, broken dreams, and enough secrets to make TMZ weep.
Let’s talk real talk for a sec: the first half of the book? Slow. I’m talking molasses-on-a-cold-day slow. I almost DNF’d this one more than once, but since I committed to the series (and I really wanted to see where it was going), I powered through. And, honestly? I’m glad I did. Once the murder happens and Lila disappears, things finally start clicking. The pacing picks up, the tension ratchets, and the plot begins to twist in all the right directions.
I do think the novel would benefit from a more dynamic opening—maybe cut straight to the juicy stuff and layer in the backstory through flashbacks or character musings. As it stands, there’s a bit too much setup before the real mystery unfolds. Less early exposition, more murder-y mayhem, please!
One thing I absolutely loved? Noor the panther. Yes, you read that right. A literal panther. Somehow, this sleek and mysterious creature ends up stealing the show. Symbolic, striking, and unforgettable—Noor adds an unexpected wildness to the narrative and elevates the whole "Hollywood jungle" vibe.
And speaking of setting—Britt Lind does something unique here. Los Angeles becomes more than just a backdrop. It's alive. The city hums with its own energy, secrets tucked into every alley, studio, and fake smile. Whether you love Hollywood or love to hate it, DECEPTION paints it with both beauty and bite. You can tell Lind knows this world from the inside out.
Now, about that romance between Josh and Rosemaria… eh. It felt tacked on. Like someone whispered, “Hey, you need a love subplot,” and it got scribbled in last-minute. Their chemistry lacks spark, and while I liked both characters individually—especially Rosemaria’s no-nonsense grit—I didn’t buy them as a couple. Give me more conflict, more development, more anything!
Despite the bumpy start and a romance that fizzled instead of flamed, DECEPTION redeems itself with its twisty mystery, complex characters, and an ending that hints at more chaos to come. If you’re a fan of Hollywood noir, character-driven thrillers, and stories that pull the mask off fame, this one’s worth sticking with—even if you need a little patience at the start.
Final Verdict:⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.5 out of 5 stars)
If you’re into moody mysteries with a noir twist, slow-burn pacing, and morally murky characters, DECEPTION might just hit the sweet spot. And with that ending? Yeah, I’ll definitely check out the next book in the series. Let’s just hope it jumps straight into the fire this time.
About the book:
Publisher: Bublish
Pub. Date: May 2020
Genre: Adult Mystery
Add to Goodreads
Synopsis:
"Britt Lind has written an intriguing mystery filled with twists and turns that takes place in a world she knows well from every perspective." - Carlyne Grager - Talent Representative and Owner of Dramatic Artists Agency Los Angeles and Seattle.
The battle between good and evil is ill-defined in the land of Hollywood. Rarely do kind, compassionate souls win the spoils of war which makes their rare victories all the sweeter.
Josh Sibley, singer/songwriter, is handsome, talented, smart and headed for oblivion. Alcohol provides relief when his demons threaten to overwhelm his every effort to break free of his past. When his friend Jennie Seger arranges for him to write songs for a multi-million-dollar feature, all his doubts and fears fall away, and he embraces the opportunity like a starving man who has found a bounteous feast during a famine.
Lightning strikes his lonely heart in the form of singer/actress Lila Levy who is married to the producer of the movie and flaunts her sexuality at Josh knowing her breathtaking beauty more than makes up for her lack of talent. Knowing his love for Lila is doomed from the start, he overlooks her shortcomings and keeps his feelings under wraps as he teaches her to sing his songs.
But this is Hollywood, and nothing is as it seems. Lila has secrets that Josh cannot begin to fathom and doesn't want to know. When her husband Stan is murdered, Lila disappears and Josh is confronted by the woman determined to track her down - Sergeant Rosemaria Baker of the Beverly Hills Police Department. Rosemaria is the opposite of Lila; she hates show business and considers Josh a delusional loser. When the cops track down Lila and bring her in, Lila declares herself innocent and the fight for the soul of Josh Sibley begins.
Meet the Author:
Britt found out she had a passion for acting, singing, and writing as early as grade school. While attending junior college in Monterey she was discovered by Clint Eastwood when she was playing the lead in a dinner theatre play in Carmel and was cast in Clint's first directorial effort Play Misty for Me. A few years later, Britt headed for L.A. to attend UCLA and to start her acting career. She obtained featured roles in dramatic series and worked her way up to guest starring roles in shows like Vegas, Columbo, Crazy Like a Fox, the miniseries How the West Was Won and worked on the daytime dramas General Hospital, Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless. She moved to New York where she sang with a gospel group in venues such as Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Family matters forced her to head back to her hometown of Seattle for what she thought was a temporary move and there was cast in an independent movie Family Hayes. She was also featured in a Showtime movie shot in Seattle, Nowheresville, played the lead in two Equity plays, Someone's Knocking, and The Good Doctor, and worked in Vancouver, BC on U.S. Productions, Sliders and For Hope. Her memoir Learning How to Fly recounts her journey from Norway to Hollywood and from animal lover to animal activist and anti-vivisectionist. She has written four Hollywood Mysteries: Deception, Malevolence, A Fate Worse Than Death, and Avarice.
Britt is president of the non-profit group Kindness and Science in Action. She can be reached at britt@kindnessandscience.org For animal lovers, Britt asks that you check out www.kindnessandscience.org and sign up for the mailing list. Her website is brittlind.com