Strip for Murder
A
Jack and Maggie Starr Mystery
Max Allan
Collins
Berkley Prime Crime (Trade
Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-425-22139-3 (0425221393)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22139-6 (9780425221396)
Publication Date: May 2008
List Price: $14.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Manhattan, 1953. Hal Rapp's Tall Paul, one of America's
most popular comic strips, is now a Broadway musical, infuriating
Rapp's longtime rival Sam Fizer, creator of the once-beloved boxing
strip Mug O'Malley. Adding insult to injury is the casting of Misty
Winters, Fizer's wife, as one of Rapp's hillbilly gals sashaying across
the Great White Way. Then Fizer is found dead, his apparent suicide
actually an obvious homicide—with all evidence pointing to
Rapp.
Starr Syndicate has distribution deals with both cartoonists, which
added fuel to the fire between them, but vice president Jack Starr and
his stepmother (and company president) Maggie believe Rapp's been
framed. Between loan sharks, jealous husbands, bitter artists, and
Fizer's widow—who has taken a romantic interest in
Jack—there are more colorful characters with murderous
motives than in a month of Sunday funnies.
Review:
It's not all fun and laughs for comic strip syndication executives
Maggie Starr and her stepson Jack when one of their cartoonists is
murdered and another the prime suspect in Strip for Murder,
the second mystery in this series by Max Allan Collins.
Sam Fizer, creator of the Starr’s most profitable
strip, Mug
O’Malley, is dead. At first it looks like
suicide – but is it? Upon further investigation it appears as
though someone may murdered him and then tried to make it look like he
had killed himself. The incriminating evidence points to his former
partner and now fierce competitor Hal Rapp. But is he being framed?
Jack Starr, vice president and general trouble-shooter for Starr
Syndicate, is also a licensed private investigator with just one
client, Starr Syndicate. He and Captain Chandler of the local precinct
work together to question everyone involved with Sam, from Hal to Misty
(the estranged wife, now widow) to the local loan sharks. Hal Rapp is
the creator of Tall
Paul, currently the most popular strip of the year. He and
Sam had once worked together though their partnership ended twenty
years ago with them becoming bitter enemies. Over the years, through
their comic strips, they had maligned each other as much and as often
as they could. Now Hal is involved in a musical based on the Tall Paul strip
starring Misty. Sam was furious and blamed Hal for his broken marriage.
He had planned on taking Hal to court citing plagiarism. A reason for
Hal to kill him? Maybe. But Sam owes over $100,000 in gambling debts. A
reason for the mob to kill him? Maybe. And his wife hated him for his
threat to leave her and cut her out of his will. A reason for Misty to
kill him? Maybe. It's no surprise there are others who would like to see Sam
dead. It's up to Jack to put the jumbled frames of this story together
in the right order to see what really happened.
Strip for Murder
is a breezy mystery to read though it has a lot of dark humor. The
seemingly innocent world of comic strips created for the amusement of
newspaper readers is juxtaposed against the cutthroat world of
competitive creators, syndication deals, even ghost cartoonists. The
book starts slow but the pace quickly picks up and becomes a delightful
(and in many ways insightful) story. It's also worth noting that Terry
Beatty's illustrations throughout add great value to the plot and lift
it above the average mystery.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Strip for Murder and to Berkley Prime Crime for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
A Killing in
Comics
Berkley Prime Crime (Trade Paperback), May 2007
ISBN-10: 0-425-21365-X (042521365X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21365-0 (9780425213650)
Strip for Murder
Berkley Prime Crime (Trade Paperback), May 2008
ISBN-10: 0-425-22139-3 (0425221393)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22139-6 (9780425221396)
Omnimystery keywords for Strip for Murder ...
Location(s) referenced: New York City.