Ron Goulart
1999
Things are beginning to gel quite nicely in this second Groucho mystery set in 1930s Hollywood. The writing is snappy, Groucho is in fine form and as for the plot, there’s no hitch in its gitalong.
In the first book, Groucho Marx, Master Detective, Frank Denby meets the love of his life, Jane. It happens so quickly that one wonders if Jane isn’t one of the bad guys, in true film noir tradition. Luckily, she’s not and she and Frank pursue their relationship throughout this second adventure.
We get a nice look at some movie sets, hear Groucho sing Gilbert and Sullivan, and watch him deal with a persnickety child actress named Polly, who he describes as possessing “all the best qualities of Typhoid Mary, Ma Barker, and Louis B. Mayer.” The new sponsor of Groucho’s radio show is Mullens Pudding, which comes in “five flavorful flavors,” chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, strawberry and, according to Groucho, herring.
Between tracking down the killer of the “poor man’s Ronald Coleman,” Brian Montaine, and finding out who is framing Polly’s mother, Groucho deals with tourists and autograph seekers, obliging them with a signature, sometimes even his own.
All my reservations regarding the literary resurrection of Groucho have vanished like a puff of Groucho’s cigar smoke. Carry on, Ron, the world needs Groucho now just as much as it did then.
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