ONE CRIED MURDER

by David Cooper Wall ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 1990

First, novelist Wall serves up a better-than, average homage to Rex Stout, here recasting Nero Wolfe and Archie as a widowed East Side super, attorney, Arthur Rose, man, and a former crime, reporter/morgue-gofer, David ""Ham"" Hamilton. (Fritz, the Wolfe cook, is transformed into a very savvy black man named Kripp.) Roseman's old friend Leonard Craig--who, against Roseman's advice, married the beautiful, young party-girl Samantha--is the prime suspect when her lover, bisexual actor Lane Peters, is found dead in their posh apartment. But, as Ham quickly realizes, there are other likely nominations for killer--including the delectable Samantha, a theater owner, one of his lovers, another of Samantha's, and. . .well, no French bedroom farce ever had more participants. There will be three more corpses, as well as Craig's almost complete physical and mental breakdown, before Ham and Roseman sort through this game of musical beds. An engaging debut that is, perhaps, less than gracious in its treatment of assorted sexual proclivities, but offers a lively cast of Stout-hearted men to warm to, particularly Kripp and Ham.

Pub Date: June 25, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dembner--dist. by Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION