- Paperback: 265 pages
- Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0786236922
- ISBN-13: 978-0786236923
- Product Dimensions: 20.7 x 15 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,019,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
This is an interesting beast, the sort of high concept you wish you had come up with yourself: Groucho Marx investigating murders. Of course, he's strictly an amateur and the murders are the genteel kind you get in an episode of Murder She Wrote, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you get some great oneliners in the book that you could hear Groucho saying himself.
Groucho and his friend and the writer on a radio show he had called Frank Denby are asked by a gangster to investigate the murder of another gangster. Groucho and Frank wisely decline, but soon find themselves caught up in the case as they journey to New York where Frank's wife's cartoon strip is to be made into a radio show and where Groucho is to sing in the Mikado.
It's a fun little run around, with plenty of period flavour, feeling a lot like one of Groucho's films. Goulart has Groucho's brand of humour down pat.
It's not literature but it's a fun diversion.
Groucho and his friend and the writer on a radio show he had called Frank Denby are asked by a gangster to investigate the murder of another gangster. Groucho and Frank wisely decline, but soon find themselves caught up in the case as they journey to New York where Frank's wife's cartoon strip is to be made into a radio show and where Groucho is to sing in the Mikado.
It's a fun little run around, with plenty of period flavour, feeling a lot like one of Groucho's films. Goulart has Groucho's brand of humour down pat.
It's not literature but it's a fun diversion.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Quik witted ,fleet footed and thinly plotted
1 May 2004
Format:Hardcover
This is one that will appeal to Groucho-philes rather than hard core mystery mavens as the actual mystery is not so much thin as anorexic but the good nature and sparkling pace of the writing , complete with authentic sounding Grouch-isms ,will keep most readers turning the page with a smile on their face
The title initially seems misleading as the book is well over half finished before the noted comedian and amateur sleuth actually gets to the Great White Way.The novel opens in Hollywood whwre Groucho and his writer sidekick Frank Denby resist the blandishments of a local mobster to find out who killed another gangland figure the womanising Nick Sanantonio but they soon find themselves involved in a mystery to which the latr mobster holds the key.
They are on a cross country train trip to New York , Groucho to star as The Lord High Executioner in a aproduction of The Mikado ,and Denby accompanying his wife to negotiate for her popular strip cartoon to be made into a readio show .Also on board is a caddish movie producer Mnnheim ,his newest discovery Dian Bowers who is about to open in his new picture (Saint Joan) an up and coming British actress and a young dancer ,Len Cowan whose sister killed herself having been deceived by Mannheim .An attempt is made on Mnnheim's life while on borad the train but he does not get to meet his maker until after he arrives in New York where he is murdered at the opening night of a play which just happens to star Dian' estranged husband ,another man with a reason to hate the late mogul
Naturally ,this being a mystery in which the obvious suspect is never the one to go for ,he is innocent and the Groucho-Denby team unmask the real killer The solution is predictable and unsubtle but mystery is not really the name of the game here as the emphasis is on quick wit ,humour and verbal dexterity .
There are running gags abut the awfulness of the latest Marx Brothers movie ( At The Circus ) and at Groucho.s propensity top burst into song at every opportunity and the sheer good nature of the writing and verve of dialogue adequately compensate for plot shortcomings
Recommended for Marxists of the Groucho -as distinct from Karl-persuasion -and thos ewho enjoy the lighter type of crime novel
The title initially seems misleading as the book is well over half finished before the noted comedian and amateur sleuth actually gets to the Great White Way.The novel opens in Hollywood whwre Groucho and his writer sidekick Frank Denby resist the blandishments of a local mobster to find out who killed another gangland figure the womanising Nick Sanantonio but they soon find themselves involved in a mystery to which the latr mobster holds the key.
They are on a cross country train trip to New York , Groucho to star as The Lord High Executioner in a aproduction of The Mikado ,and Denby accompanying his wife to negotiate for her popular strip cartoon to be made into a readio show .Also on board is a caddish movie producer Mnnheim ,his newest discovery Dian Bowers who is about to open in his new picture (Saint Joan) an up and coming British actress and a young dancer ,Len Cowan whose sister killed herself having been deceived by Mannheim .An attempt is made on Mnnheim's life while on borad the train but he does not get to meet his maker until after he arrives in New York where he is murdered at the opening night of a play which just happens to star Dian' estranged husband ,another man with a reason to hate the late mogul
Naturally ,this being a mystery in which the obvious suspect is never the one to go for ,he is innocent and the Groucho-Denby team unmask the real killer The solution is predictable and unsubtle but mystery is not really the name of the game here as the emphasis is on quick wit ,humour and verbal dexterity .
There are running gags abut the awfulness of the latest Marx Brothers movie ( At The Circus ) and at Groucho.s propensity top burst into song at every opportunity and the sheer good nature of the writing and verve of dialogue adequately compensate for plot shortcomings
Recommended for Marxists of the Groucho -as distinct from Karl-persuasion -and thos ewho enjoy the lighter type of crime novel
Ron Goulart is channeling Grouch Marx again...
10 Jan 2002
Format:Hardcover
Actually, there is only one murder on Broadway in "Groucho Marx and the Broadway Murders," the fourth mystery novel by Ron Goulart featuring Julius Marx, better known as Groucho. The time is 1939, at which point Groucho no longer looked like the caricature that graces the cover of this novel, and once again Groucho and his writer Frank Denby becoming involved in what proves to be a string of murders. In between the first murder in Hollywood and several in Manhattan, there is a cross-country train ride as Frank accompanies his lovely and talented cartoonist wife, Jane, to New York. Groucho comes along for the ride and the fun begins.
As a murder mystery there is really nothing hereof substance; I pretty much figured out whodunit early on, but in the end that does not matter because these novels are about style rather than substance. The chief joy in reading Goulart's mysteries is that Groucho Marx runs around cracking wise. Yes, we have seen most of this before: Groucho is still complaining about the latest Marx Brothers film being a disaster (this time around it is "At the Circus"), nobody wants to hear him sing ("Lydia the Tattooed Lady" and songs from "The Mikado"), and people keep making the mistake of asking Groucho for his autograph so he can have big time fun with them (my personal favorite). Jane is the only one Groucho is nice to and that is because she is the smartest one in the book (I sure would like to read that "Hollywood Molly" script). There seem to be less famous names from the past running around this time around although it is nice to see Conrad Nagel finally catch a break. "Groucho Marx and the Broadway Murders" is a fun read with the mystery elements just an excuse for Groucho to run circles around all sorts of people and I think Goulart's channeling of Groucho is an above average effort this time around. What can I say? Obviously I am a devout Marxist.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
The premise works and works well
29 Jun 2001
Format:Hardcover
In 1939 his film career may be tanking (wait till the debut of At the Circus), but Groucho Marx and his friend, writer Frank Denby, have solved murder mysteries. Because of his reputation as an amateur sleuth extraodinaire, Mobster Vince Salermo wants Groucho and Frank to investigate the gangland-like murder of Nick Santantorio. Groucho and Frank politely say no because they are both heading to Manhattan for different reasons. Frank accompanies his wife, June Danner, the cartoonist of the popular Hollywood Molly strip, to discuss a possible radio rendition of her cartoon. Groucho heads to Broadway to perform in the Mikado.
Also on the train heading east is movie mogul Daniel Markham and his new star Dian Bowers, performing in Saint Joan. Someone tries to kill Markham and only the fortunate insomnia of Groucho saves his life. However, Markham tells Groucho and Frank to mind their business, which the two nonprofessional detectives agree to do. However, at the debut of a Broadway play starring Dian's estranged husband, someone kills Markham. The police lean towards Dian's spouse and only Frank and Groucho, with a little help from Jane, try to prove otherwise.
GROUCHO MARX AND THE BROADWAY MURDERS is a humorous and irritating historical mystery. The story line is engaging, but the non-stop wisecracking from Groucho and imitated by Frank can become an irritant. Still, readers get a feel for the era on both Broadway and Hollywood while observing an entertaining who-done-it.
Harriet Klausner
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