STAR TRAP

by Simon Brett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1977

Unashamedly second-rate actor Charles Paris (So Much Blood, p. 186) returns--with just as much amusingly authentic show-bizziness but rather less grab in the whodunit department. He's on the road with Lumpkin!, a musical version of She Stoops to Conquer headed for London and starring a gifted, egocentric TV comic who's been unhinged by celebrity. Charles has been hired to find out who's sabotaging the show, but the real suspense here is in watching as Oliver Goldsmith is progressively buried in gross commercialism. And though there's a culprit to be unmasked by exploring the theatrical past, he's more passionate prankster than killer: as Charles himself observes, ""a diarrhoea weapon lacked the glamour of a murder weapon."" Still, Charles is an awfully funny fellow, getting a baby drunk or recalling his undistinguished career, and Brett's affectionately satirical sense of the ever-changing theatrical milieu is quite simply the best in the business.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION