The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case [Hardcover]

George Baxt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993

When an astrologer is murdered at the famed actress's 1931 New Year's party, Marlene Dietrich plays the role of determined detective as she ignores Hollywood gossips and Nazi sympathizers in her quest for the killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Baxt's seventh Tinseltown celebrity mystery , following last year's The Greta Garbo Murder Case , earns high marks for style and a passing grade for plot. It's New Year's Eve 1931 and a party at the plush Dietrich spread is in full swing. Groucho and Cary and the rest of the crew are there in force, as are the requisite fictional characters who serve as suspects, sleuths and stiffs. The party's featured attraction is Mai Mai Chu, a lady stargazer, who after obliquely predicting the Lindbergh kidnapping and the emergence of Adolf Hitler, fixes her glazed eyes on a group of seven party people and expires--poisoned by strychnine in her glass of bubbly. Cop Herb Villon must sort through the motley septet comprising an aristocratic Russian couple, a violinist, a munitions manufacturer and three others to find the killer. At his best serving up juicy movie lore and sly character studies, Baxt skillfully paints the Hollywood famous as catty, often cute and never less than frighteningly believable. But the surface sparkle doesn't quell our niggling sense that we already know a little too much of the narrative.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Yet another of Baxt's fictional takes on the glamour queens of film history (The Greta Garbo Murder Case, etc.). This time it's Marlene Dietrich, whose celebrity-stuffed New Year's Eve party is interrupted by the poison murder of astrologer-seer Mai-Mai Chu. Dietrich and Mai-Mai's friend Anna May Wong lend their energies and insider clout to Police Inspector Herb Villon, as the case intensifies with the fatal stabbing of waiter Morton Duncan. Mai- Mai's secret astrological charts pinpoint a clutch of recent Hollywood visitors, all party guests--among others, Dong See, a renown violinist; munitions-king Ivartensha; Mussolini admirer Countess Dorothy di Frasso; Hitler confidante/onetime opera-star Brunhilde Messer--all of them engaged in a global conspiracy for power and influence. It takes a third murder to inspire the trap that ends it all, with Dietrich in at the kill. Baxt's predictable mix--a parade of well-researched bygone celebs and resurrected gossip; scads of nasty, banal chitchat, laced with painful puns--but this time with a plot that's livelier and more imaginative than the author's norm: his fans will love it. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312093349
• ISBN-13: 978-0312093341
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,958,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh that Fabulous Dietrich!, November 5, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case (Hardcover)

Marlene Dietrich is the epitome of glamour even in this day and age. There has never been anyone like her in Hollywood. And in this book we see her in all her glory. Baxt's character depictions are very real and are definitely the strong point in his "silver screen mysteries". We also see many cameo appearances by other favourites - Cary Grant, and my personal favourite, Tallulah Bankhead. In this story one of Marlene's guests at a New Year's Eve party is murdered in front of all her gursts. Marlene sets out with Herb Villon to trap a killer, and instead discovers a huge conspiracy that spans the globe. More murders occur, but the fabulous Dietrich actaully gets her man. As I mentioned, one reads these books for Baxt's character portrayals. They are wonderful. He gives us a real insight into these glorious screen legends. The mystery and the intrigue are not so exciting.