The Greta Garbo Murder Case [Hardcover]

George Baxt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

Accepting the role of Joan of Arc, Hollywood star Greta Garbo finds herself in the middle of a picture involving German expatriates and a cast of spies. By the author of The Tallulah Bankhead Murder Case.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Baxt with yet another exhumation of the old Hollywood (The Talking Pictures Murder Case, 1990, etc.)--this time set in the first months of WW II, when the town is flooded with expatriate Germans like Erich Von Stroheim. He's directing a movie about Joan of Arc starring Greta Garbo, who's also playing a real-life detective in what seems to be a Nazi plot centered around the movie's backer. That's Albert Guiss, billed as the world's richest man and surrounded by a raft of toadies mingling with FBI agents (disguised as lackeys of one sort or another). Poisoned bodies drop like flies; Garbo acts like looney tunes; and the pointless, disjointed plot is unenhanced by tedious name-dropping and artificial dialogue. Strictly for fans of long-inferred gossip about long-inferred greats and their satellites. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 197 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031206988X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312069889
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,446,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ridiculous rubbish, February 26, 2000

By 

"outlawfran" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greta Garbo Murder Case (Hardcover)

I have never understood why some authors choose to write about historical figures and time periods without doing extensive research beforehand. Although this is supposed to be a historical mystery novel it reads more like a confusing, ridiculous piece of fantasy. Why must author George Baxt include Peter Lorre and Erich von Stroheim as characters in his novel if he's not in the least interested in finding out what these men were really like? Baxt's description of Mr. Lorre and Mr. Von Stroheim is degrading and offensive. It's too bad the author doesn't have more respect for these charming and extremely talented men, who incidentally were both Austrian Jews, not Germans. As for the whole Nazi spy plot -- well, I've read plenty of better-written, more realistic, WWII-era mystery novels. Pass on this one.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another oddie but goodie, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Greta Garbo Murder Case (Hardcover)

This is another George Baxt mystery that, perhaps, is a bit too full of spies. It was the very first I read, and I may have a soft spot for it, but I would recommend it to almost anyone. This is a very good book for someone who is willing to pay close attention to all the characters and plot details, not for a person that just sees the confusing mess (and it gets a bit messy at times, I'll confess). Still, it is quite a ride, and it makes one wish they'd actually met these people. Still more hurrays for Baxt- and, of course, Greta Garbo.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Poor!, September 20, 2003

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greta Garbo Murder Case (Hardcover)

Up to now I've been enjoying Baxt's Hollywood mysteries, but this particular one was written extremely poorly. It was disjointed and made no sense. And Garbo seemed like a cardboard cutout - there was no life to her at all. The premise was a good one - espionage in Hollywood after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, but it went absolutely nowhere. It was so unmemorable that I don't even remember the names of the lead characters who were at the heart of the conspiracy. I do hope that the others remaining in the series get back to the old format that the first four books had.