I picked this up on a whim as I had happened to watch the movie The Hollywood Canteen last year on TCM. The concept of this book is intriguing, but the execution is a little haphazard. Not to say portions werent enjoyable; taking a look at this time period from a different lense besides war was refreshing. People forget that yes a war was being waged, but industries and communities went on with daily activities outside of the war zones. The reason for the murder takes a while to come to fruition (but readers will probably guess it a chapter before Annie does), but it's a very relevant issue to have as the center piece. (Taking credit for someone else's work) For the time period, the sexism and homophobia make sense, but sometimes it's almost just beat to death a little much. It took a while to get going, but about halfway through I kinda got into the groove of the book more, so it's not a bad read to pick up if you're looking for something different.