The Mae West Murder Case [Hardcover]

The latest Hollywood-in-its-heyday caper from Baxt ( The Noel Coward Murder Case et al.) is long on camp but short on humor. In 1936, with the extravagantly endowed and spoken star of the title at the height of her power at Paramount, four Mae West impersonators (one a woman) are murdered. LAPD detectives Villon and Mallory, two dim bulbs, call on megawatt Mae to warn her. Accompanied by Villon and Mallory as bodyguards/musclemen, bossy and fearless Mae attends a Halloween ball at a Hollywood drag palace. After the club owner and a script girl are murdered at the ball, the star zeroes in on the killer, aided by the dull coppers. Preposterous in its resolution, laced with such anachronisms as "grope therapy" and a Superman costume three years before the man of steel was introduced, this froth is flat--and no tribute to the multi-dimensioned West.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The prolific Baxt offers up another in his series of mysteries featuring famous personalities of the past. This time flamboyant sex siren Mae West--mistress of the earthy double entendre--is the heroine. Someone's been killing off the West lookalikes who are cropping up all over Hollywood in the wake of the original's enormous popularity. Even though Mae is surrounded by comely, muscular bodyguards who'd sacrifice their lives to protect her, Detective Herb Villon and his partner, Jim Mallory, fear she'll be the killer's next victim. In a madcap race to find the murderer, Villon, Mallory, and Mae encounter plenty of odd characters, including gangsters, witches, and warlocks. Baxt has done his usual outstanding job of reincarnating his celebrity characters. West's golden-hearted bawdiness and the glitz of 1930s Hollywood come through loud and clear. A witty and entertaining satire posing as a mystery. Emily Melton

Baxt again at play in the Hollywood fleshpots--circa 1936. Mae West is at the height of her career, and Inspector Herb Villon (The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case, p. 486, etc.) is trying to get a handle on the killer of four of her impersonators--the first of whom was a talented young man calling himself ``Neon Light.'' Mae agrees with the Inspector that she's meant to be the ultimate target and surrounds herself with handsome young bodyguards. Meanwhile, Villon retrieves the Neon Light case from the dead files, where it was stashed by a crooked cop seemingly connected to Milton Connery--owner of the notorious Tailspin Club, rumored to have behind-the-scenes orgies attended by Hollywood's biggest names. The killer's MO produces much talk of vampires and witches, climaxing at a Halloween party at the Tailspin. The party adds more victims to the list but pinpoints the killer for Mae, who proves to be a hotshot detective. Loyal Baxt fans won't be put off by tired puns, graceless style, nasty resurrected gossip, and bizarre plotting. Others may wish the author would move his hard-working talents to fresher territory. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Mae West impersonators are falling victim to a vampirish killer, until the legendary siren herself decides to lead in the pursuit of the murderer. By the author of The Noel Coward Murder Case.