Helen Hayes (1900–1993)

Where the Truth Lies by Helen Hayes and Thomas Chastain is a 1990 William Morrow publication.

This book is a part of my little paperback collection. Published in 1990, it doesn’t qualify as a ‘vintage’ paperback just yet- but the reason I have held onto it was because it was written by the esteemed actress Helen Hayes- “The First lady of American Theatre”. So, I’ve kept it because, to me at least, the book is collectable.

Helen Hayes was a popular and personable actress, on stage and screen, and also portrayed “Miss Marple”, in three full-length movie adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels.

This book features a veteran actress named Halcie Harper, who rises to the occasion to help detectives solve the murder of Arthur Strickland, a movie producer who had just won an Oscar. I think Halcie’s character was loosely based on Helen, which was kind of fun, if a bit transparent.

However, the book, though lacking any text reviews on Goodreads, hasn’t received high marks. But I couldn’t bring myself to believe a book with Helen Hayes’ name attached could be that bad.

But, in all honesty, it wasn’t anything special, although, to be fair, it was structured like many light mysteries written in the early nineties. There was a nice twist I didn’t see coming, although today's audience will find some aspects to be highly implausible. Yet, the story captures some Hollywood sparkle from a different time and place, which gave the story a bit of nostalgic charm.

With the popularity of cozy mysteries right now, if this book had been written today, with a bit of modernization, it could easily fit into that mystery subgenere, and probably would have had a pretty good chance at becoming a solid series.

Overall, this mystery may not be especially memorable in the long run, and it did have its flaws, it was enjoyable enough, and is better than the ratings suggests. I've seen higher marks for far more subpar books than this one.

That said, I don’t know if I’d go to a lot of trouble trying to locate a copy for reading purposes. It is not available in digital format. However, if you want a copy to add to a book collection, you can find a few copies on eBay,and probably in a few other online used bookstore, either in paperback or hardcover. The prices and quality of the books vary, as does the cover art. but most are under five dollars- before shipping.… (more)

okay autobiog. of 90 year old actress, some amusing anecdotes

Helen Hayes has been on stage, screen and television for more than fifty years. In that time she moved among the world's most famous and talented people. She speaks with wit, wisdom, and candor on topics both public and private, offering behind-the-sceens portraits of great personalities, telling of the advice older actors gave her and how she in turn gave advice. She treats us to delightful anecdotes about Ethel Barrymore, John Ford, Al Capone. At the same time she reflects more seriously on the painful parts of her life. And, finally, she expresses her strong views on what is wrong with the American theatre today and what has always been wrong with Hollywood.… (more)