Need an intelligent guffaw? Feeling down but a lighthearted romp among screwball writers in the 1920’s would cure you? Try the third book in J.J. Murphy’s Dorothy Parker series, A Friendly Game of Murder. Murphy enjoys incorporating a famous visitor into each of his books—this time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle offers some Sherlockian help when a Broadway starlet, Bibi Bibelot, turns up dead after entertaining a New Year’s Eve party by climbing naked into a bathtub of champagne. From both the victim’s name and pose, you get a taste for Murphy’s sense of humor. Imbibe the fun.
Dorothy Parker, poet and satirist, and her fellow Algonquin Round Table companions, a group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits, were famous for their biting wisecracks and wordplay. Murphy continues this tradition in his mysteries. As a sample, on the trail of clues, Robert Benchley and Parker engage in this fictitious interplay:
“Look, footprints.” Benchley pointed out the window. “Footprints in the snow, on the roof! What do you make of that?”
“Someone took the road less traveled by?” she said.
Don’t look for biographically real moments in Parker’s life or anyone else’s. The setting is first rate and the details of life in the Algonquin have all the historical accuracy you could desire, but as Murphy says in his Author’s Note: “Dorothy Parker reportedly said, ‘I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.’ Following her advice, this book is almost entirely a work of fiction, even though it is populated with many real people. The members of the Algonquin Round Table never seemed to let the truth get in the way of telling a good story—and I hope you won’t let it get in the way of enjoying this one.”
What a fabulous review! Sounds like a wonderfully fun read, Judith.
J.J. always makes his readers laugh. For those who like literate, snappy humor, he’s the right read. His Dorothy Parker is an agreeably likeable character, very pleasant company.
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