Good period piece mystery based on real New yorkers in the 20s and pro hibition ( )

Good period piece mystery based on real New yorkers in the 20s and pro hibition ( )

A nice start and good use of period details in introducing us to the various members of the Angonquin Round Table. You understand where the term "Vicious Circle" come from but you also understand that this group did support each other, somewhat. It all starts when a critic is killed and found under the famous round table at the Algonquin with a pen sticking out of his chest. Along the way we meet notables and criminals in order to get to the truth. ( )

Dorothy Parker is one of my favourite people. I've read a biography on her (What Fresh Hell Is This?) and enjoyed reading of her crazy, and not always happy, life and the people in her world. Seeing this on the shelf, I thought it might be a fun read.

There is a touch of the screwball in this murder mystery. The corpse is a fellow writer who is found dead under the Round Table at the Algonquin. The weapon? What else? A fountain pen. The top suspect is the newly arrived Mr. Dachshund from Mississippi, whose real name is William Faulkner.

This is a madcap mystery, with Alexander Woolcott, Robert Sherwood, Robert Benchley and his quips, and other well know Algonquin Round Table members contributing in keeping just a step ahead of the police in keeping Mr. Dachshund free, finding clues and keeping their tea cups filled with their favourite, if not illegal, beverage. It isn't a super serious read, but it is fun and entertaining.

BTW - murder your darlings is a phrase from the world of writing and editing it seems... ( )

Fun period mystery. Lots of name dropping, but that goes with the book's concept - making famous historical figures the mystery solvers. Reasonable attempts at using the styles of the authors involved, but got to be too cute after a while. One glaring error threw me right out of the setting each time it happened - no one in the 1920's (or any time before the 1970s) would be addressed as Ms. ( )