Review by Ian Keogh

For this fifth Goldie Vance outing a volume title is introduced, and series co-creator Hope Larson bequeaths the writing to Jackie Ball, although the slightly awkward system of continuing the chapter numbering from book to book remains. It means Larceny in La La Land beginning with chapter seventeen, chapter sixteen having been in Volume Four.

It’s still the early 1960s, and while the enthusiastic Goldie Vance may work in a Florida motel with an understanding boss, her true passion is solving mysteries. It turns out there’s one in Los Angeles, where she heads with her friends Cheryl and Diane after her friend Sugar Maple (see Volume Three) flies them out there. Goldie’s appealing enthusiasm has taken her far, and here it lands her a position helping out at a detective agency, albeit with an extremely reluctant boss to begin with.

Artist Mollie Rose is new to Goldie Vance, but hits the right spots immediately, supplying the characters with style and grace, telling the story efficiently, and filling in the backgrounds. A nice visual effect is supplying Los Angeles in spreads via tourist photographs, although while the new location might supply some visual glamour, it’s a long while before Ball reveals why this isn’t a plot that could have been played out back in Florida. That, of course, is because movie stars are all based in Los Angeles, although Larceny in La La Land isn’t about them. It concerns those who got a foothold in the business, but never graduated beyond bit players and eventually drifted into other careers.

While retaining the good-natured mood of the Goldie Vance stories to date, Ball also injects some unexpected pathos into the events along with the more usual humour. Anyone who’s enjoyed the remainder should enjoy this. The bad news is that it’s the final Goldie Vance graphic novel, but two young adult novels followed, starting with The Hotel Whodunnit.