Customer Reviews

The Corpse Wore Pasties (Hard Case Crime)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a member of the burlesque community that serves as the setting for this book, I can honestly (and in spite of my bias!) say that this is an authentic peek behind the scenes at the world of pasties and puns. The tone and the language roll like the script of an old burlesque number updated for current sensibilities--with retro flair, but still fresh and fun. It's a perfect mystery for an airplane or beach read!

Grab the book, go get an apple or some popcorn, and settle into a big, comfy armchair for an enjoyable 3 or 4 hours because if you're like me, once you pick it up, you'll be sorely tempted to finish it in the same sitting. Porkpie takes the classic American crime novel seriously enough to write one, but not so seriously that he doesn't subject it (and the readers, do our delight) to a series of high-spirited and low-brow puns and double-entendres. Titillating without being inappropriate, this book really would make a fine present for any lover of Chandler, Hammett, Stout, and Christie.

This is a book that will be more interesting to devotees of burlesque than to devotees of crime fiction, though the latter will enjoy it. "Jonny Porkpie," the self-appointed Burlesque Mayor of NYC, has penned a Hard Case Crime novel. The plot is straightforward: a burlesque queen (or princess minus) has a bad habit of imitating other peoples' acts. Make that: stealing other peoples' acts. Her stolen act this time around involves the drinking of what appears to be poison. Unfortunately for her the poison turns out to be real. Since Jonny Porkpie (named for his favorite style of hat) was charged with the responsibility of handing her the prop he becomes the principal suspect in her murder case. Thus, he is forced to dodge the fuzz (make that: the cops) in order to investigate the case and bring the actual killer to justice.

The crime story is a tad thin and there are no shocking surprises. The strength of the book lies in the author's ability to evoke the world of burlesque--a quaint, arch, self-conscious world of puns, pasties and double entendres. The result is more cozy than crime fiction, since it takes place in an enclosed world which, in this case, also has strong retro- elements.

It's all good clean fun, less sexualized than daytime television, and a very competent first novel. Essentially it is what it attempts to be, not James Lee Burke, James Ellroy or Elmore Leonard, but a short, amusing look at a sweet, vaguely adolescent, vaguely adult subculture. Enjoy.

To be honest I was a little startled when a friend bought this for me, but the minute I started reading it, I was charmed. The narrative voice is strong and witty, and the behind-the-scenes glimpse of burlesque left me with a whole new respect for the performers. The novel--like a good burlesque act--relies on character and humour, and is a delightfully light version of the classic hardboiled detective story.

I loved reading this book and getting to see behind the curtains of the NY burlesque scene. Hilarious book that makes you feel like you are getting awesome juicy gossip, even if none of it is based on reality. Jonny Porkpie is a master of comedy. You will love this book!

It was a fun read set in an interesting milieu. The weak point is the ending. I am still not sure of the motive for the central crime. Of course I used this as bedtime reading and may not have been following it as closely as possible. Anyway its a good light read. I note that erotic is one of the tags for this book. Although it involves a burlesque show there is nothing in it that would offend a Quaker.

The Corpse Wore Pasties is a fun twist on the genre of crime fiction. At its core, it's something of a classic mystery, with the "detective" trying to determine which of the suspects at the scene of the crime is the guilty one. But the real goal of the book is to have fun with the New York burlesque scene while holding it up as a respectable art. I certainly got sucked in and enjoyed the story all the way through.

This has it all, and that's not even adding the burlesque beauties! One of those classy Hard Case novels that makes you appreciate Hard Case bringing new life and new fans to these excellent books. If you love Chandler, you'll love The Corpse Wore Pasties. Five out of five bullets.

Victoria Vice is dead. She died on stage (and I don't mean figuratively) doing a burlesque act pilfered from a colleague. The fact that Victoria had a reputation as a performance plagiarist means that everyone on the program that night had a motive, including Jonny Porkpie, self-appointed "Burlesque Mayor of New York City" and the guy running the show that night at Dreamland.

Before you ask, yes this Porkpie is the same fellow that wrote the book The Corpse Wore Pasties. But unlike Kinky Friedman (who always distanced himself from the Kinky Friedman that starred in his mysteries), these two Porkpies are freely admitted to be one and the same. A professional ecdysiast, Jonny Porkpie also runs Pinchbottom with his partner and wife, Nasty Canasta (another burlesque artist and the model for the redhead in the cover painting by Ricky Mujica).

Porkpie's fingerprints were the only ones other than Victoria's found on her prop bottle of "poison" (that turned out to contain the real thing), so after being interrogated by two cops only distinguishable by their accents, he takes it upon himself to play sleuth and question the other artists. This is a rather precarious position to put himself in, given that one of them is a murderer and they all object to being accused/questioned.

In addition to its author's old-time profession (Porkpie wryly proclaims it "the top entertainment ticket of 1939"), The Corpse Wore Pasties is an old-time mystery, a direct descendant of the Agatha Christie despicable-person-is murdered-and-everyone-is-a-suspect school that produced such classics as Murder on the Orient Express and (my favorite) Evil Under the Sun. Look past all the naked characters and sex puns and the mystery is very traditional in its make-up. Porkpie is the epitome of the amateur investigator thrown into a situation where (like Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr, another Christie descendant) he has to solve the crime to clear his own name.

Porkpie keeps thing interesting because he knows there's only so many times you can mention New York before you need a really tense foot chase across the Brooklyn Bridge. And he peoples his novel with larger than life personalities that make for great reading. The names are fictional, but they're based on real burlesquers: Cherries Jubilee (Clams Casino), Jillian Knockers (Jo Boobs), LuLu La Rue (GiGi La Femme, the model for the brunette on the cover), just to name a few. Porkpie and Canasta are featured under their "real" names.

The Corpse Wore Pasties is a hell of a lot of fun, if not in the least bit hardboiled or otherwise noirish, which more than makes up for the otherwise by-the-numbers mystery that follows the Christie law-of-conservation-of-characters rule. It's kind of like an R-rated Murder, She Wrote, and any regular viewer of that show will have the solution figured out long before the unveiling. Porkpie makes the whole mystery-writing thing look easy, and he somehow manages to come across as an innocent despite the fact that he takes his clothes off for a living.

Adding another layer of reality to the proceedings, Porkpie also produced a couple of burlesque shows (called Lurid Pulp) centered around the book release of The Corpse Wore Pasties. In the show, the "characters" in the novel (or their real-life counterparts) object to his portrayal of them in the book and vow revenge. As the promo postcard stated, "Tempers flare, bodices rip, tassels twirl ... and Porkpie ends up dead." Canasta investigates with help from the audience. I imagine if there were more burlesque book release parties, the publishing industry wouldn't be crying woe all the time.

If you're a burlesque performer, or a follower of the scene, you'll love this book for its behind the scenes look and its inside jokes....but fear not! If you're not a performer or don't follow the scene, the entertaining world of this book will not be lost on you! Witty dialogue, brightly drawn characters, and a plot that takes you down a winding road until the final surprise, "The Corpse Wore Pasties" is a fun, easy read that will keep you guessing till the end.....and leave you wanting more (as any great burlesque performer is want to do )! I highly recommend it.