Book Review – A Beautiful Way to Die by Eleni Kyriacou

About the Book

PLAY THEIR GAME
Hollywood, 1953. Young actress Ginny Watkins is turning heads. Even the legendary – and married – actor Max Whitman can’t resist the allure of the hottest new starlet. He promises Ginny the world, in return for the right favour.

DO WHAT THEY SAY
London, 1954. Stella Hope, once the most famous actress in Hollywood, has been ousted to Ealing Studios after her divorce from the powerful Max. Just as she accepts her fate, she receives a letter, blackmailing her for a mistake she made many years ago.

OR THEY’LL BURY YOU
Two women on either side of stardom find themselves in the orbit of the same beguiling man. And one night, in the shadows of a glamorous Oscars afterparty, their lives are changed forever…

Format: Hardcover (416 pages) Publisher: Head of Zues
Publication date: 8th May 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

A Beautiful Way to Die takes the reader beneath the glamorous facade of 1950s Hollywood to reveal its darker side and the people who dwell there: the money men motivated by profit, the publicists who can spin a positive story out of any disaster, the medical men who prescribe the uppers and downers, and the fixers who make the problems – and the problem people – disappear.

It’s a precarious world whether you’re an aspiring actress, the next big thing or a studio’s most bankable star because everything could change in a moment, especially if there are things in your past best kept secret.

Ginny’s initial joy at being given a contract by the studio (even if she’s had to change her name and appearance to get it) turns to frustration when she’s given one dead end role after another. And between roles there’s barely enough money to make ends meet meaning girls have to resort to being the entertainment at wild Hollywood parties or posing for risque photographs.

‘It was a tightrope, this town, she thought. Just one huge balancing act. Keep going, one foot in front of the other, even if you’re exhausted, no matter. Take these pills, don’t look down, don’t complain, look straight ahead… And if you fall? There’s no safety net… If you made it, the rewards were so high. And if you didn’t, well it was a beautiful way to die.’

When Ginny meets the studio’s leading man, Max Whitman, she believes everything’s about to change and her future success is assured. After all, aren’t they going to be Hollywood’s next ‘golden couple’? But she’s forgotten that, in Hollywood, everyone’s playing a part. ‘One may smile, and smile, and be a villain’, to quote Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Stella knows all about the ruthlessness of the Hollywood system. She and Max were once the ‘golden couple’, even if their marriage was mostly a sham. She’s no longer the box office draw she was once was but vainly tries to live up to the diva image. Ealing Studios is not Hollywood so she’s bouyed up by the friendship that develops with her make-up artist Maggie, newly arrived on the scene. And Stella badly needs a friend because of the blackmail letters she’s been receiving. Who could be sending them? Who could possibly know her secret, something that happened years ago?

The author throws into the mix a third character, an unnamed woman confined to a sanatorium. Just who is she, why is she there and what will happen if she finally pieces together the fragments of memory to create a clear picture? I thought I knew exactly where things were going but, boy, did the author prove me wrong.

In A Beautiful Way to Die the author has served up a delicious cocktail of intrigue and passion with a generous dash of darkness. Think dirty martini. I absolutely loved it. And for observant readers of the author’s previous book, The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou, there’s a tiny literary easter egg.

I received a review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Dramatic, compelling, suspenseful
Try something similar: Watch A Star Is Born (1954)

About the Author

Eleni Kyriacou is an award-winning editor and journalist. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, Grazia, and Red, among others. She’s the daughter of Greek Cypriot immigrant parents, and her debut novel, She Came to Stay, was published in 2020. The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou was inspired by the true-crime story of the penultimate woman to be executed in Britain.

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