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Screen Siren Noir #3

Alice Rackham: Obsession, Death and a British Film Star

Theirs is an affair destined to end in murder! Thomas had never met a woman like Alice Rackham. A sophisticated and uninhibited. Not only is their passion intense, but she could help this impoverished young actor with his own career. Surely it doesn’t really matter that she has danger written all over her… As he isn’t the only one smitten with her ex-lover skulks ceaselessly outside her home and keeps a former policeman on retainer. A giant of a man who would relish making both their lives torture. With Thomas rattled, Alice suggests a relaxing trip to an English country house. But trouble isn’t just going to follow them out there, it’s about to turn deadly. Can Thomas save Alice from her past? Or will it destroy them both? Alice Obsession, Death and a British Film Star is a must-read for all fans of hard-boiled crime and film noir. If you love the thrillers of Megan Abbott, Guy Bolton and James Ellroy, then you will adore Alice Rackham! The third in F.R. Jameson’s Screen Siren Noir series. PICK UP THIS NAIL-BITINGLY TENSE PAGE TURNER TODAY!

252 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2020

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About the author

F.R. Jameson

38 books226 followers
F.R. Jameson was born in Wales, but now lives in London with his wife and young daughter. He writes both historical thrillers and supernatural thrillers.

His books are, at the moment, mostly sorted into two different – but complimentary – series. The first, ‘Screen Siren Noir’, currently comprises of three novels: ‘Diana Christmas’, ‘Eden St. Michel’ and ‘Alice Rackham’. All of which tell the stories of beautiful British film stars caught up in Noir tales of blackmail, obsession, scandal and death. He is currently working on both the fourth and fifth books in the series.

The second series is more disturbing and scary, and lives under the moniker: ‘Ghostly Shadows’. Right now there is only one book published, a tale of supernatural revenge – ‘Death at the Shadows’. However, 2019 will bring four more entries to terrify and intrigue.

His blog - https://frjameson.com/ - is regularly updated with information about his writing, as well as film and book reviews. You can follow him @frjameson on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and you can find him on Facebook.

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Bill.
1,240 reviews200 followers
October 19, 2018
Having thoroughly enjoyed FR Jameson's previous novels in his Screen Siren Noir series I eagerly awaited this third instalment. Each novel is a stand alone story, but they are linked with similar time periods & settings as well as occasional character references.
Once again Jameson brings every single character vividly to life. It's rare to read a novel where you meet so many dislikable people, & even harder to believe that this is only a work of fiction. Not only are the characters superb, but there are plenty of twists & turns along the way. Some of these hit the reader so hard it's like receiving body blows from Rocky Balboa.
So if you want a fine story with outstanding characterisation then look no further than Alice Rackham. And if you enjoy this novel then I highly recommend FR Jameson's previous Screen Siren Noir stories Diana Christmas & Eden St Michel. They all demonstrate a level of writing that's an absolute joy to read.
Profile Image for F.R..
Author 38 books226 followers
September 26, 2018
ALICE RACKHAM, the third of my 'Screen Siren is now published. But who is Alice Rackham?

Unlike Diana Christmas and Eden St. Michel – both undeniably glamorous movie stars, whose beautiful visages sold film magazines by the thousands – Alice Rackham wasn’t quite a household name as far as cinema fans were concerned. Certainly, those who went to the theatre knew who she was. Her name alone could sell out a London production of even the most obscure play. On the stage she was this ball of energy impossible to take one’s eyes off. Regular patrons of the theatre adored her.

But she never made it in the same way in pictures.

Part of that was her looks. Not that Alice Rackham was an average looking woman, she was particularly beautiful. Almost breathtakingly beautiful if you saw her in the flesh. But on camera, her curves didn’t come across with all the sex appeal of an Elizabeth Taylor or a Marilyn Monroe (or a Diana Christmas or an Eden St. Michel). Maybe it was the roundness of her face, the way her cheekbones seemed to get lost, but on screen she appeared quite matronly. Blown up thirty-foot-high, she looked like a mum. A young mum absolutely, but a mum nonetheless.

And that was the kind of role she got in British films. It was mothers and teachers and women of authority. Not the girlfriend or the lover or a chanteuse or anyone who screams out with sex appeal, but the solid and stolid type. On stage she could be anything. There was probably no role beyond her. But on screen, she was only ever cast as the most sensible of women.

Not that that meant she wasn’t interested in cinema, she made numerous films in between her stage productions. Indeed, when we meet her in 1958, she’s playing the older sister of a would-be gangster in a new crime film. A sizeable role, but once again a bland role that captured nothing of the passion or beauty of the real her.

Those who met her in real life – particularly those men who knew her in real life – were breathlessly aware of how effortlessly and constantly sexy Alice Rackham was. In the real world, those curves of hers looked in no way matronly. They were delicious and inviting and demanding of attention.

Alice – still unmarried in her mid-thirties – was never bashful about the fact that she was a woman who liked to have fun. That she liked to have fun with the right man. Recently she’d met a young actor and the two of them were entwined in passion every single night. But Alice’s love life was always complicated, and there was forever a chance that it could blow up right into her face.


What ALICE RACKHAM means to me

It’s important to me that I’m not just writing the same book again and again.

I realised with a certain dull horror, when I was in the early stages of working on EDEN ST. MICHEL that there was a real danger I was just going to do another version of DIANA CHRISTMAS. Fortunately, I corrected course and Eden became her own lovely thing. But, it made me certain in my mind that, with ‘Screen Siren Noir’ blossoming into a series, I cannot fall into the trap of repeatedly writing the same book.

As the temptation is there.

After all, each of these books centres on an actress who finds herself in some kind of danger (or creates that danger); they’re all period places set among the British film industry; there are even characters who show up in more than one novel. So obviously it would be possible to just do variants on the theme. For me to look at the formula in DIANA CHRISTMAS, come up with another actress and go through all the same moves again. But it’s important to me that I don’t do that.

And so I come to ALICE RACKHAM.

ALICE RACKHAM is still ‘Screen Siren Noir’, it still centres on an actress, it’s still a British period piece and as the first chapter makes clear, some bodies are going to be found at some point.

However, there is a difference in both the character and the setting.

Whereas the characters of Diana Christmas and Eden St. Michel are both big film stars, Alice Rackham is merely a name in movies. She’s someone you hire if you want a third or fourth lead. No, it’s not the cinema that has made Alice Rackham a star, it’s the theatre and that’s an important distinction.

As ALICE RACKHAM is a far more theatrical novel than its predecessors. One of the other characters is a theatrical actor also seemingly not well used in films anymore, while the whole is largely set in one place – the beautiful Carreras Hall in the English countryside. These characters – Londoners, all – are now outside the comfort zone of London and in another setting, which should be idyllic and tranquil, but – it becomes swiftly apparent – may be more dangerous than any city.

This is a theatre novel rather than a film novel. I suppose it’s a novel where ‘Screen Siren Noir’ takes a country break. But that doesn’t mean there’s not danger or death or the possibility of murder, it just means that all of that is locked between four grand walls and the characters cannot escape it.



ALICE RACKHAM is available now!
Profile Image for Todd Simpson.
879 reviews35 followers
November 5, 2018
This is a fabulous story. One of the best things I’ve found from reading each of F.R. Jameson’s novels, is I couldn’t wait to continue each time I had to put it down when life got in the way. Each story is quite unique, and like this story has a wonderful group of characters. I found it very easy to like one and loath another. For me that’s a wonderful skill when an Author can make you connect with the characters, and you want to read the story to see what happens in the end.
Thomas Douglas world certainly changed when he ran into the movie actress Alice Rackham. He was lucky enough that she took quite a shine to him, and there was certainly some strong chemistry between them both. So much so that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. There was someone on the sidelines that wasn’t so happy about Thomas and Alice being together. Sir Harold Hardicott had previously spent some intimate time with Alice, and he had decided that he couldn’t possibly live without her. It didn’t matter that he was married, and she was with someone else. She belonged to him. Thomas is going to need to watch out, and things could get very dangerous for him. From start to finish I really enjoyed this book. Easily worth the 5/5 Star Rating.
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Profile Image for Ben.
1,114 reviews
February 22, 2019
I received a copy of "Alice Rackham" through Goodreads to read and review. It was a good thriller.
"Alice Rackham" is the third in a series by the author in what he calls a Film Star noir series. It is certainly a dark tale of obsessive love and murder and one that quickly drew me into its story.

Set in England about 1958 , it involves a torrid love affair between a young , moderately talented, but very handsome actor, Thomas and a glamorous and voluptuous leading lady, Alice Rackham of the title. Thomas is ten or more years younger than she, and he is totally smitten. Their hours together are spent mostly at her apartment in bed where her voracious sexual appetite astounds and delights Thomas, and pleases Alice. Often.
But there is a dark presence that soon appears to shadow this idyllic romance: her former lover, Sir Harold Hardicott, a noted actor who is well past middle age, but still obsessed with Alice. He stalks her. He warns Thomas that he will never let her go, but offers to use his influence to help his career if he gives up Alice.
Alice and Thomas decide to take a trip for a romantic weekend, only to find that Sir Harold at the same hotel. A confrontation looms as Mrs. Hardicott arrives with her employee, a hulking ex-cop, now a PI. What happens then is a kind of Virginia Woolf scene of wives and lovers quarreling across a table in a hotel that seems strangely empty of other guests. The foursome's voices are loud, with Mrs. Hardicott viciously attacking Alice as scheming harlot , her husband as an old , washed up fool and Thomas as a brainless bit of "beefcake." Things can only get worse.
That is a bit of the storyline to entice without spoiling a new reader's enjoyment.
The story is narrated by Thomas in the first person, revealing his thoughts as the novel unfolds around him. A seamy, almost lurid, story, it reminded me of the pulp novels of the days when Mickey Spillane was writing paperback thrillers, the kind with covers depicting Sexy babes with long blonde hair in red, off the shoulder dresses and figures almost bursting the seams. Those books sold in the millions, and why not ? Tough, violent and sexy, the plot grabbed the readers and did not let go. "Alice Rackham" is very much in that tradition. The reader gets into Thomas' head as he walks farther into trouble. Despite Sir Harold's distain of him, Thomas is not dumb, he is in love (and in lust) with Alice. What Thomas does not remember, and as an actor who probably had seen the classic film noir of the period, he should have, was rule number one : when you don't know who the patsy is, watch out, it is you.
I thought it was an entertaining novel of its type and I do recommend it. This was the third in a series of what the author named the Film Actress Noir series. If the others are this good, I think it will be money well spent.
Content: As noted steamy, though not graphic sex plays a bit part in the reason for all that happens.
All necessary to the story. Not very nice people: ditto.



Profile Image for Claudia.
1,288 reviews41 followers
November 24, 2019
Narrated by Thomas Douglas as he is breaking into his career as an theater actor, he tells the story of his infatuation with the older and physically gorgeous actress, Alice Rackham, and the complications of that relationship.

It's fortunate that there are only 5 main characters;
Alice herself
Tommy
Harold, a former lover of Alice who is still obsessed with her, and tries to convince Tommy to leave by offering to mentor him and work at getting him more acting jobs in exchange for never seeing, talking or interacting with Alice again.
Enid, Harold's wife who is very aware of the entire situation and has some dark skeletons in a few closets.
Wedgewood, a former police officer drummed out of the service supposedly due to his sexual preferences who has not only made a pass at Thomas but formerly worked for Harold before Enid came up with a larger paycheck for him.

They all come together at Carreras House, an idyllic location where Alice and Thomas thought they would have a private getaway.

Once Enid starts talking about possibly killing Alice, you know that the death toll is going to start - and it does, although I did not anticipate all of the corpses.

A rather dark ending and Thomas turns out to be a bit naive even at the end. Especially since author Jameson has entitled the series as screen siren noir. There is going to be a patsy for the murders and unless Thomas can figure out how to make the others believe he is going along with the murders, it's likely going to be him. I'm not going to tell how the hero comes out by the end of the book but it was a bit of a twist.

Overall, a enjoyable read and I will likely investigate at a later time, the two earlier books in the series

This book was received as a GoodReads giveaway

2019-167
Profile Image for Jen.
1,573 reviews29 followers
October 3, 2018
Relationship dynamics tend to have a tenuous balance and when the power dynamic is threatened, disastrous outcomes could arise, as they do for some lovers in F.R. Jameson’s Alice Rackham.

To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.

When young actor Thomas, who is just starting to break his way into the theatre world, happens to meet and catch the attention of an older woman, who just happens to be the glamorous and famous actress Alice Rackham, he’s astounded by his luck that she seems to be interested in him. As their relationship develops, Thomas comes to learn that he’s not the only man who seems invested in Alice and earning her affections. While coping with the stalking of one of Alice’s former lovers and current co-star, Thomas and Alice go on a weekend getaway to the idyllic Carreras Hall but find themselves instead in a sordid tale of revenge with an outcome that trends toward deadly.

An engaging narrative, the story moves swiftly through events, building tension as Thomas increasingly uncovers elements of the truth behind Alice’s relationships with both her former lover and her former lover's wife. The youthful voice of Thomas feels well developed and provides readers the ability to easily connect with his experiences and emotional upheavals as the story unfolds. The story integrates adequate background and characteristics of the leading figures in a manner that provides plenty of knowledge and understanding without simply dumping information while also situating itself within the Screen Noir series of books with references to stars from the other installments that places this story within the larger universe.

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Kathy.
435 reviews
April 17, 2025
Alice Rackham - F.R. Jameson

Tommy Douglas a new actor in theater falls in love with an established film star. Alice is caught up in a love triangle of deceit of a former lover and his wife. Part of me thinks that Alice had used Tommy to end her relationships with Enid and Harold. Instead, poor Tommy was in over his head, witnessing the death of Enid and Westingate he blacked out. A twist of events leads Tommy in dire danger.

At first I wasn’t into this book but once all the players were at the hotel, the twists and turns of this book had me actually intrigued to the end.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews