GREENWICH KILLING TIME

by Kinky Friedman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 1986

Former country-singer Kinky Friedman (he of the ""Texas Jewboys"") makes his fiction debut with a wise-cracking, dirty-talking, cheerfully lurid mystery--featuring a narrator-hero named Kinky Friedman, former country-singer and amateur Sleuth. (""Ellery Queen"" is one thing, but this is sheer cutesy/tacky self-indulgence.) The first murder victim: handsome bisexual bartender Frank Worthington. The chief suspect? Sloppy newsman Mike McGovern, Worthington's neighbor and Kinky's good buddy. So, to clear his pal's name, Kinky goes into sleuthing action, concentrating on the four bedmates in Worthington's recent past: gorgeous dancer Barry, prim chef Peter, exotic singer Nina, and naive actress Darlene--who becomes victim #2 before she can divulge a Big Clue to Kinky. Could the deaths be linked to a gay drug ring? Or to Frank Worthington's morbid fear of a doppelganger? (Kinky learns about this by breaking into the office of Worthington's shrink.) And why does the killer leave lovely roses and nasty messages (""cunt"" spelled out in cocaine, for example) at the murder scenes? Well, while lending aid and comfort to both fugitive McGovern and the newsman's loyal girlfriend Cynthia. Kinky manages to figure it all out--with an occasional assist from his sidekick Ratso, a National Lampoon editor. Kinky's non-stop Village repartee--drug jokes, cat jokes, obsessive anti-gay jokes, laid-back musings on misogyny, show-biz, ""the age-old dilemma of espresso versus cappuccino""--is half-amusing, a little dated, and certainly not for everyone. But, despite the unpleasant details and the uninspired plotting, this is a fairly genial and engaging exercise in sardonic hipness--with slick Village scenery, some likable passers-by, and casual yet briskly fluid pacing.

Pub Date: Aug. 19, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Beech Tree/Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION