Publish and Be Murdered (Robert Amiss Mysteries) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Ruth Dudley Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

Amiss is not entirely happy with his job -- managing a right-wing, 22-year-old English magazine -- for the atmosphere of the paper is poisoned by a rampant egocentricity. And when the drunken deputy editor is found drowned in a bowl of punch, suspicions of foul play are brushed aside by the police. But after another death, they begin to wonder: Is the murderer a Conservative, enraged by the paper's switch to New Labour? Or an enraged wife...?

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his seventh outing, Robert Amiss, lapsed civil servant, is approached by Lord Papworth, owner of the Wrangler, to step in as business manager for the august journal and do something about its steady drain on his lordship's finances. The magazine's editor, Willie Lambie Crump, and his staff are firmly mired in the 1950s, technologically speaking; ideologically, the journal has always been strongly conservative. Prodded by Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck, his rather menacing guardian angel, Amiss takes on the job and soon has his hands full trying to further the journal's progress toward the latter half of the 20th century without unduly upsetting the staff. When the political editor, Henry Potbury, is found dead under odd circumstances and Crump is murdered, Amiss discovers once again that trying to keep a job can be a lethal occupation. Edwards's (Clubbed to Death, etc.) wit should be registered as a deadly weapon. This longtime contributor to the Economist takes no prisoners in yet another savagely funny satire on journalism, politics and antiquated manners.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Irish biographer and journalist Edwards has written the best in a series that's been targeting England's revered institutions. In this one, her bumbling sleuth Robert Amiss has been hired to modernize an inefficient, conservative, intellectual English journal that's modeled on the Economist. Progress here involves a shocking takeover bid, rancid office politics and a wacky murder. Amiss' sidekick in all this delicious hugger-mugger is, as usual, the loony, rude, bisexual and politically incorrect Baroness Jack Troutbeck. Publish and Be Murdered combines the eccentric characters of P.G. Wodehouse with the satire of Kingsley Amis.
Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press --unabridged

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Chivers Audio Books; Unabridged edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754002381
• ISBN-13: 978-0754002383
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,815,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing amiss about this satirical amateur sleuth, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Publish and Be Murdered (Paperback)

His family has owned the journal for two centuries and Lord Papworth will do anything to keep it alive and well. Desperate for help, he turns to Robert Amiss, offering the civil servant an opportunity to take over as the business manager of the Wrangler before the highly regarded periodical leaves the aristocrat bankrupt. After seeing the pre-computer technology that is deeply entrenched as part of the culture, Robert wants to miss out on this opportunity. However, Baroness Jack Troutbeck pushes Robert into taking over the business side of the journal.

It is hard enough to prod dinosaurs forward four decades. However, Robert soon deals with a killer murdering the members of the Wrangler staff. An unknown assailant kills the political editor and the magazine's editor. Robert worries that he too could be on the hit list. Robert assists as Jack tries to uncover the identity of a murderer.

The seventh Amiss satirical amateur sleuth tale retains all the charm, wit, and skewing of society that readers expect from Ruth Dudley Edwards. The story line is typical of Robert, who finds employment to be a deadly occupation. Jack remains delightfully insolent as Ms. Edwards knocks out journalism and inflexible customs with one punch.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Publish and Be Murdered, November 9, 2006

By 

Dana Stabenow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Publish and Be Murdered (Paperback)

If you have yet to make the acquaintance of Baroness Jack Troutbeck, run, don't walk to the nearest bookstore and order yourself a copy of this book. Every time poor Robert Amiss, ex-civil servant, succumbs to Jack's wicked wiles -- no, no, not that, get your mind out of the gutter. Jack keeps finding Robert jobs, is all, after which murder is invariably committed somewhere around his person and he's left to clean up the resulting mess, with help from the exuberant and irrepressible Jack, of course.

Dudley Edwards thus far has bulls-eyed the British civil service, Oxbridge, the House of Lords, the Church of England, Anglo-Irish relations, and, in the above-named novel, the publishing industry. She is also a prolific and much-quoted commentator on Anglo-Irish politics and current events.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as cozy murders ever get., September 15, 2008

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Publish and Be Murdered (Audio CD)

This is the story of a man about town who takes on a well-paying and pretigious job as manager of an ultra-conservative English Journal... but the position seemed more glamourous than it really is.

The staff is rampant with zealots, fruitcakes, drunks, and other incompetents. Then one of the chief writers dies and the Manager suspects murder, alerting a Scotland Yard friend of his suspicions. Sunsequent to that, the old benevolent despot of an Editor is murdered during a possible hostile takeover of the journal and eveyone on staff becomes a suspect.

This one is a roller-coaster ride of surprises and secrets revealed. The story is very comprehensible (a frequent problem with audiobooks) and the reader (Bill Wallis) is tremendous in his delivery.

You won't get hurt on this one except that I see that it's a little pricey -- I got lucky and found my copy in perfect condition at a Goodwill store for $1.50! There are six casette tapes in the package which run for a total of seven hours and two minutes. This story is unabridged.

Highly recommended.