[.ca] Elementary, My Dear Groucho: A Mystery Featuring Groucho ... (ISBN 0312208928)

From Amazon.com:
Penzler Pick, December 1999: Other mystery writers, including George Baxt and Stuart Kaminsky, have spoofed the golden era of Hollywood in series mysteries, morphing famous screen figures--Tallulah Bankhead, Humphrey Bogart, etc.--as props for their plots. Like the golden age of the classic detective story, the heyday of back-lot moviemaking, with its larger-than-life, iconic stars, offers rich material for pastiches. To wit: Goulart and Groucho, together again! Here we have the third adventure for the best-known Marx brother and, like its predecessors (Groucho Marx, Private Eye and Groucho Marx, Master Detective), it's a homicidal hoot. Ron Goulart, a prolific novelist and short-story writer, once before contributed a filmland sleuth to the genre: in the late 1960s and early '70s, he wrote several books featuring John Easy, a Hollywood private eye. Now, however, the detective is wearing oversized spectacles and greasepaint mustache, and the ease with which Goulart re-creates the period, as well as the man, shows he's had practice. The narrator is Frank Denby, writer for Groucho's radio detective show, who makes a more than adequate Watson. As Elementary opens, Denby and his employer/pal have just come upon the corpse of an emigré director on the set of a movie, Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear. Not only is Felix Denk past his sell-by date, he's been discovered dead in the armchair of 221-B Baker Street, or at least the Mammoth Studios simulation of same. With Groucho on the case things are bound to get funny fairly quickly. Hard-boiled it's not; more like scrambled! So if you're in the mood for Benny Karloff jokes, (he was Boris's cousin), want to catch a glimpse of Captain Spaulding's pith helmet, and think Hollywood historicals are amusing, go for Goulart's Groucho. --Otto Penzler

Once again the game's afoot for Groucho Marx:
The cover of this book caught my eye, as well it might, but of course it is the idea that "Elementary, My Dear Groucho" is "A Mystery Featuring Groucho Marx" that compelled me to read Ron Goulart's third such effort. Fortunately, reading the third book first did not detract from my enjoyment. I readily admit that I have more of a preference for Marxian humor than mystery novels, but this is one where you go along for the ride and are not asked to try and stay in step with the sleuth. The plot involves the murder of German émigré director Felix Denker, who was about to film a new Sherlock Holmes movie, "The Valley of Fear" for Mammoth Studios. Groucho is challenged by Miles Ravenshaw, the actor playing Holmes, to solve the murder. With his own savvy sidekick, writer Frank Denby at his side, Groucho takes up the investigation. If you have the feeling that Felix Denker is something of a roadshow Fritz Lang, that is because he is, just like it says on page 24. The main characters are fictional creations who you might recognize as echoing real people, but every once in a while Joan Crawford flips Groucho off because of an unfortunate encounter in a Tijuana phone booth, so you need to be ready to test your memory of Hollywood in the 1930s. This is a quick read and a delightful experience, especially if you like a constant stream of puns, insults and innuendoes. The hero is Groucho Marx, although admittedly with a large dose of Julius Marx since this is the comedian without his greasepaint moustache. The explanation for all this wonderful nonsense is when Groucho speaks for not only himself but for author Goulart as well, telling an admirer in a moment of rare candor, "I really get a kick out of pretending to be Groucho Marx." Obviously I come to this book as a devotee of the Marx Brothers in general and Groucho in particular. Having enjoyed Lord Julius in "Cerebus," it is nice to see that Groucho lives.

Not a great mystery, but an excellent Groucho!:
As far as mystery novels go, there isn't too much to recommend this one: The mystery isn't all that mysterious, the loose ends are much too tight, and the solution is revealed several chapters before the great reveal. Howoever, its not the mystery that makes this book a page turner, its the characters. Any fan of the dry smart-aleck humor that defined Groucho Marx will have no trouble diving into the sharp dialogue and priceless situations that are the true stars of the show. There are also enough real-life 30's personalities sprinkled throughout the narative (an alcoholic Dashell Hammett, and an annoyed Joan Crawford giving Groucho the finger, for example) to delight lovers of that golden era of entertainment. If you are a true Detective Novel buff, then there's nothing here to thrill you. But fans of Captain Spalding and Rufus T. Firefly will have found an instant favorite.

Groucho steps into The Master's shoes:
While investigating a murder on a Sherlock Holmes movie set, Groucho gets to gather all the witnesses and reveal the culprit in classic detective style. Mr. Goulart has crafted a story which succeeds in being both an effective mystery and truly funny. As I've come to expect from this series, the story is surprisingly deep, with Mr. Goulart also giving an interesting glimpse into the politics and attitudes of the times. I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume!

Good read!:
I happened upon this book in the library. What a good read; what a good mystery writer Ron Goulart is. Characters are well developed. Dialogue carries the plot forward. Groucho is true to form...and contrary to what the book infers, I loved "Room Service." I highly recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers and can't wait to get the others in the series. And if you're reading this review, Mr. Goulart, hurry and write more. This fan is waiting.