Books: The Mourner By Richard Stark (1963)

"The statue wore white and grieved. Parker wasn’t interested in its sentimental value. The thief cared more about retrieving a certain gun that came with it, the one he had used in a previous crime that could incriminate him. By the time Parker comes face to face with the 16-inch-tall alabaster figurine called The Mourner, he knows that stealing it for a rich man and his beautiful, amoral daughter is the least of his worries. New players are coming in every minute, from strutting syndicate boys to a fat man with a heavy accent who is lighter on his feet than he looks. Now in a deadly, treacherous endgame, Parker will find out who intends to bury whom — and why no one will be crying over his grave."

The Mourner is a prime example of Stark/Westlake’s world blurring. The details of plot are intricate, but I could see (again, because I started the Dortmunder titles before Parker, who came first) where the tale could diverge into two different worlds. However, the difference between these two worlds is the nihilistic approach Westlake takes with Parker. After four books, I get the sense that each adventure is happening weeks or just a few months later. This type of lifestyle Parker is living is dangerous and while he seems okay with it, I also get a sense that Parker likes it too much to give it all up –even if he scored a huge win.

Then again it is only now that I’m catching onto the fact that the Parker books are pretty –and maybe, unintentionally- funny. Parker is constantly interacting with people who want to be around him, want to work with him, want his attention, want to talk to him, and want to hire him—and he just wants to be left alone. He wants to plan his job, do the job, not get double crossed, and then go off alone to live off his take.

Of course, that never happens, and that’s pretty funny. Dortmunder, in many ways, is the same way. Except, of course, Westlake deliberately made Dortmunder funny. I don’t know if Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, intended to make Parker’s world this humorous.

As noted in The Outfit review, there seemed to be end to an arc that started in The Hunter and continued in The Man with the Getaway Face, with Parker having now settled his issues with the crime syndicate. The Mourner reads like a stand-alone tale (though the thread of this “episode” was seeded in the previous book), and features no new information on his past. One could read, I guess this book, without having read the three previous. I’m not sure that’s a great idea, but you could.

Books: Groucho Marx and the Broadway Murders By Ron Goulart (2001)

"Groucho Marx and his writer Frank Denby have made a name for themselves as detectives. In fact, in their last case, they were able to outsmart Sherlock Holmes, or at least the actor playing him. However, both men play down their sleuthing abilities and to escape their new reputation, Groucho agrees to perform in a Broadway play and Frank accompanies his wife on a business trip. When Groucho learns that Frank and Jane are going to New York via train he decides to join them, figuring it will be a nice relaxing journey. However, murder and mayhem somehow follow them across the country. First, before even leaving for New York they are approached by a local mobster who firmly believes that the recent murder of his associate was not a mob hit. He asks them to look into the matter and Groucho suggests that he try "Philip Marlowe, Dan Turner or some other Hollywood shamus" even though "they don't have our track record...or a strawberry birthmark right here." From there, things only get more interesting. On the train they meet Dian Bowers, the newest star of Daniel Manheim, a domineering Hollywood producer. A series of bizarre events unfolds on the train, including an attempt on Manheim's life. When they arrive in New York, Groucho agrees to escort Dian to the premiere of her estranged husband's play, but the play never makes it into the second act because a body is discovered on stage. When Dian's husband becomes the prime suspect, Groucho and Frank once again find themselves playing detective."

While I can appreciate that Ron Goulart changed things up in the fourth book of his Groucho Marx detective series, it does features some (intentional?) ill-conceived running jokes like him singing Lydia, the Tattooed Lady from the forthcoming 1939 Marx Bros. film At the Circus and the multiple times  someone suddenly recognizes Groucho only to be met with a barrage of insults. It gets a bit repetitious, even if some of the jokes will make you chuckle. The whodunit part is a bit light and not very compelling –though we’ve seen a lot of movies and TV series that have featured a more convoluted murder plot.

Still, you don’t read these books for the clever murders. It’s more or less a romp featuring a fictionalized Groucho Marx spouting off terrible puns and being a smart-ass. At least in that part, Goulart succeeds.