Publish and Be Murdered [Paperback]

Ruth Dudley Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

British satirist Edwards continues to skewer the Establishment with the misadventures of civil servant Robert Amiss and the keen deductions of his sleuthing partner, the irrepressible, irreverent Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck. Edwards, who's filleted the Foreign Office, clobbered a Cambridge college, jeered at gentlemen in their clubs, and defrocked the clergy in past books, now pulverizes the world of magazine publishing where to uphold traditions runs fatal risks.
Fictionalizing some of her own experiences as a journalist, Edwards creates the revered political rag The Wrangler, then sends in Amiss to sort out a hemorraghing cash flow, the succession plans of its most noble patron, a takeover bid from a strong-minded Australian woman (who has her eye on Jack), antiquated procedures that will have you rolling on the floor, preservation of a beautiful and historic London town house as company headquarters, and the inevitable little murder....
Amiss, long mired in inertia, is encouraged to break out of the civil service mentality, sort out his own emotional life, and Get On With It.
Truly a lovely, very funny, and provocative book that asks how we can balance what's worth keeping from our past with where we need to go to survive the future?

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.

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890208132
• ISBN-13: 978-1890208134
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,539,383 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.