If you’re in the mood for a flapper-era bit of true crime that reads like a novel, pour yourself an illicit glass of hooch and pick Broadway Butterfly up. Sara Divello’s book — which is billed as “a thriller” — is well-researched and based on an actual case. There’s true-crime cake you can have, and fiction-feeling cake you can eat, too.

The 1923 slaying of actress Dot King has been true-crime fodder for a century, as anyone with a calendar will note. But in all that time, no one’s solved the case — and this book, though well-researched, doesn’t get us any closer to an answer. Here’s the rundown: King was found dead by her maid in her Manhattan apartment, apparently poisoned by an overdose of chloroform.