1930s King’s Cross, London.

When aspiring film actress Estella Lamare is found dead on the cutting-room floor of a London film studio, Cameron McCabe finds himself at the centre of a police investigation. There are multiple suspects, multiple confessors and, as more people around him die, McCabe begins to perform his own amateur sleuth-work, followed doggedly by the mysterious inspector Smith.

But then, abruptly, McCabe’s account ends . . .

Who is Cameron McCabe? Is he victim? Murderer? Novelist? Joker?

And if not McCabe, who is the author of The Face on the Cutting-Room Floor?

I purchased a copy of this book for my own reading.

Marketed as a noir murder mystery, I thought it might be a great addition to my alphabet reading challenge. The idea of a murder rocking the British film industry right in the heart of London really appealed to me.

Cameron McCabe – the pen name of German author Ernst Wilhelm Julius Bornemann – wrote The Face on the Cutting-room Floor 1933 as an escapee of Nazi Germany, with little to no command of English. In this respect alone, it made for an impressive undertaking. In addition to this, it’s written in the style of a memoir of sorts, the first person story of protagonist Cameron McCabe.

Sadly, this one didn’t live up to my hopes for it. The cast, McCabe in particular, were in no way likeable. All of them were self-serving and frankly unpleasant. None had any redeeming qualities, and even their worst traits were just bland. Perhaps the language represented an issue for the writer. Granted, the language is from a different time, but I struggled to follow this one. I’ve read books written at a similar time, and far older, and not had the same issues following the story. A shame, given how much I thought I might like this book.

My rating: