Books: Elementary, My Dear Groucho By Ron Goulart (1999)

"When a body is found in Holmes's 221B Baker Street lodgings on the set at Mammoth Studios during the shooting of The Valley of Fear, Groucho Marx and his sidekick Frank Denby begin investigating. The victim is the German emigre director of the movie who was found in the great detective's favorite armchair, shot in the chest. There is another murder (though it looks like an accident) but it takes more than murder to stifle Groucho's quips or to quiet the laughter this surprising reincarnation inspires."

While Elementary, My Dear Groucho continues Ron Goulart’s alternate universe where Groucho Marx is not only a movie star (though waning), but an armature detective and is a good third book in the series, the plot was lacking something –it was fairly easy to know whodunit. There is some zaniness, though this volume tempers that a bit from the previous two. And Goulart does add a bit of realism to the story, with Frank, Jane, and Groucho also dealing with some homegrown Nazis, and their anti-Semitism, but this aspect is only slightly touched upon. Still, Goulart did do his research and the whole underbelly of Nazi’s in Hollywood in 1938 (just after the release of Room Service, a Marx Brothers film that underperformed) is fairly interesting. Also, Goulart continues his love affair with the time period, mixing real-life actors, locations, and movie-making seamlessly with his fictional characters.

Much like the two previous entries, Elementary, My Dear Groucho, is a breezy read, with delightful smart-ass cracking people. There are also moments of pathos, but it’s still a delightful, if not laugh out loud, mystery.