The Monet Murders by Terry Mort

The Monet Murders Reviews

• 
  Nick

  I went the audio book route with this. It was something to pass the time during my commute to work. I found myself rolling my eyes at the male protagonist's need to name drop well known authors and characters. We get it. You read a lot. I also wondered how he got anything done in the book with all the...distractions. Speaking of distractions, the descriptions of the female characters and their personalities made me cringe, quite a few times. I need to do more research about the time period, to see if women carried themselves like the way the author described. There's a good chance I will not be actively seeking out books by the author anytime soon.
• 
  Kwoomac

  Private eye Bruno Feldspar (not his real name) gets hired by a woman who is sure her ex-lover has stolen a Monet from her. Bruno is new to the business and new to town. Hollywood 1934. There are dames and mobsters and, of course, skinny dipping. Bruno's client turns up dead and he decides he should try to find out what happened. I wasn't real invested in the whole murder aspect but I loved Bruno and loved reading about his personal life. There's no description of what he looks like, but apparently he's quite the charmer. He beds at least four women over the course of this story, which I think doesn't cover much more than a week. Quite the busy young man.
  
  His secretary Della is a no nonsense broad who smokes and types and runs an escort business on the side. She and her husband Perry are good at making problems go away, if you know what I mean.
  
  Bruno lives in a bungalow, which is one of many on a big estate in Hollywood. Most of the other residents are screen writers. One of his pals is definitely F Scott Fitzgerald , although the author calls him Hobey Baker.* I'm not quite sure why. Hobey's a novelist whose circumstances have forced him to write Hollywood scripts. Check. He went to Princeton. Check. He's an alcoholic with a troubled wife. Check. He hooks up with a gossip columnist. Check. It's possible that other characters are based on real people and I just didn't know enough about them to notice. Was Dorothy Parker there? Hemingway? It doesn't really matter. Everyone is quirky and fun. I definitely wanted to sit around the pool with them and drink gin.
  
  *Useless information: Hobey Baker is also a real person. He went to Princeton and played hockey and football. Fitzgerald named a character after him in one of his books, I forget which one.
  
• 
  Debby Palmer

  I really tried. The writing is good, and I kept reminding myself that this is noir hard-boiled PI and making allowances, but this is so much more blatantly, disgustingly sexist than it needs to be for the genre that it made me gag. When it got to the 2nd 1940s starlet who didn’t wear a bra in the same chapter (same day), who would become the 3rd “beautiful” woman the PI slept with that day, I was done. I don’t know/remember who/why this was recommended to me—maybe because I like JK Rowling’s Cameron Strike? I wish I knew so I could avoid future recommendations.
• 
  Dianne Landry

  My first DNF of 2019. I should have liked this book, it had pretty much everything I usually like in a book but I was so bored.
  
  By page 100 I was so bored with Bruno (or whatever his name is) repeatedly saying how Bruno wasn't his real name, pining over some broad named Lily and alluding to some scam he pulled on the FBI. The idea of looking for some woman that is the exact double for a dead movie star is ludicrous. The other story of a missing Monet was also boring. Such a shame, it sounded so good.
  
• 
  Katie

  A quick, enjoyable romp through 1930s Hollywood. (And I don't use the word "romp" lightly.)
  
  The author has a very clear sense of the time period and good comedic timing, and this was a fun noir mystery set in La-La Land that I thoroughly enjoyed.
• 
  Fern

  Lightweight mystery, fun literary references and entertaining setting of Hollywood's heyday. Nice summer read by the pool.
• 
  Kristen

  I enjoyed this, but not as a murder mystery.
  
  This book's appeal, for me, was much more for its sense of place, and its very clever and amusing writing, as opposed to the investigation of the murder.
  
  The murder mystery part of this fell very flat for me. It just wasn't that interesting.
  
  The fun part of this book for me was the Sam Spade-esque detective [who happens to have more names than you can shake a stick at, and all of them are entertaining] and the film-noir, hard-boiled feel of the story. Riley Fitzhugh is the quintessential hard-boiled detective, and he is smart, and he is dry, and he is mellow, despite all the drama that surges around him as he investigates an apparent murder-suicide related to a stolen Monet painting.
  
  Aside from the fact that I love the feel of a film-noir, detective story, which this is, as a grammar-geek, I couldn't help but love a literate protagonist [Riley quotes or refers to multiple authors - Shakespeare, Twain and Dickens being just a sample] and a grammatically correct one [he corrects the grammar of several of the people he interacts with - but just inside his head - when they say things that are wrong grammar-wise, and it made the geek in me smile every time it happened!].
  
  The connection to the golden age of film-making was another fun aspect of this story for me. This was the era when women were buxom, brassy and used their assets without hesitation to get what they wanted. It was also the era of casting couch and producers who basically ran their own little fiefdoms, in which writers were just so much fodder. I swear this book was worth reading just for the scene in which a producer explains to Riley how Anna Karenina ought to be remade: with Mae West as Anna, Eddie Cantor as Vronski, and Harpo Marx as the husband "suffering in silence", and with Busby Berkely choreographing the dance numbers and a different ending "because who'd believe Mae West would kill herself over a man?! Why she'd probably throw Vronski in front of the train, then go find herself a new man and live happily ever after!" I can't argue with that, personally, as I think this would have made the story way more enjoyable [I hated this book when I had to read it in school].
  
  As I said, the murder mystery was tepid at best, but the feel of the era, and the portraits of the archetypal characters - and I do mean CHARACTERS! - of this cool period in history, cinema and mystery are just a first rate romp. If you come at this book with that as your goal, there's plenty of good fun in it.
  
  One final note, I listened to this on audiobook format and the narrator was absolutely sensational! He perfectly typifies everything about the era. He gets the language, the feel and most importantly the attitude required to tell this story absolutely spot-on! I think a good part of why I enjoyed this came from hearing the story told by someone who got every line and every nuance perfect. If you have any interest in audiobooks, this is one you should definitely listen to rather than read.
• 
  Colleen Mertens

  This book reads like a good film noir. It has enough shady characters to populate a Bogart movie. The ending had a twist I didn't see coming and felt exactly like it should. You could easily picture the people and places in the story and it was a fun, enjoyable read. Not a bad book considering I bought it sight unseen from a bookstore.
• 
  Grace

  I enjoyed this book more than I thought. I liked the slower pace of life and forgotten that a private detective is called a "dick".
• 
  Rita

  The only purpose to this book seems to be to for the author to allow himself to use every ethnic slur, using the excuse that it takes place in the 1930's. Additionally, he seems to think that every woman in L.A. at the time never wore underwear, and happily slept with every man she met. Stereotypical characters, and not even a good mystery.
• 
  E.R. Yatscoff

  Reading this is like a trip to the past. The author tries to do the hard-boiled PI character and almost succeeds, but it's the other characters that really make it interesting especially the hot women vying to get into the movies. The art crime and all its ripples of art forgery were decent. Picked this book from a reduced bin. Read my crime books.
• 
  Suzanne Vokey

  Characters are not memorable, plot is boring, the mystery is presented in a boring way. Better writing, descriptions, and editing would have made the story worthwhile. I like almost every book I read, but this was just bad in almost every sense.
• 
  Melissa

  Eh. It was ok. It had great potential, however it just never "took off". I didn't love it, however I didn't hate it either. One of those books I will soon forget.
• 
  Victor Gentile

  Terry Mort in his new book, “The Monet Murders” published by Pegasus Books LLC introduces us to Riley Fitzhugh.
  
  From the back cover: Private-investigator-to-the-stars Riley Fitzhugh finds himself caught up in the case of a missing Hollywood beauty―and a stolen Monet―in a 1930s hardboiled caper as deadly as it is delightful.
  
  Hollywood, 1934. Prohibition is finally over, but there is still plenty of crime for an ambitious young private eye to investigate. Though he has a slightly checkered past, Riley Fitzhugh is well connected in the film industry and is hired by a major producer―whose lovely girlfriend has disappeared. He also is hired to recover a stolen Monet, a crime that results in two murders initially, with more to come.
  
  Along the way Riley investigates the gambling ships anchored off L.A., gets involved with the girlfriend of the gangster running one of the ships, and disposes of the body of a would-be actor who assaults Riley’s girlfriend. He also meets an elegant English art history professor from UCLA who helps Riley authenticate several paintings and determine which ones are forgeries.
  
  Riley lives at the Garden of Allah Hotel, the favorite watering place of screenwriters, and he meets and unknowingly assists many of them with their plots. Incidentally one of these gents, whose nom de plume is ‘Hobey Baker,’ might actually be F. Scott Fitzgerald . . .
  
  Evoking the classic hardboiled style, The Monet Murders is a charmingly cozy murder mystery by a novelist whose “lucid, beautifully written books are a pleasure to read.” (The Wall Street Journal)
  
  I have not read such a clever use of the “hard-boiled private “I” in a really long time. Mr. Mort really knows the genre and how to use all the elements and still make it a fun read. Gambling ships, I did not know such things existed, 1934 Hollywood, murders and Monet are just some of the ingredients served up in this delightful smorgasbord. There are references to both real and fictional people all throughout the book, my favorite being that of Perry and Della, that will claim your attention. “The Monet Murders” grabs you with the storyline and keeps you flipping pages as fast as possible. This is a book with very interesting themes regarding evil and the evil inside us. Mr. Mort has given us a very interesting character in Riley and he makes us care for him all throughout the book. Don’t start this book late at night because you are going to want to finish it before you go to bed. A high-octane suspenseful thriller. I truly hope that Mr. Mort will give us more adventure with Private Investigator Riley Fitzhugh.
  
  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Pegasus Books LLC. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
• 
  Dale

  The Clichés Never End…
  
  
  My thanks to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my advance reading copy of this book. You ladies rock!
  
  
  Hollywood, 1934. The Nation has shrugged off the uncomfortable bonds that were Prohibition. Bruno Feldspar is a hard boiled Private Eye with a storied past. For example, his name isn’t Bruno Feldspar. Riley Fitzhugh assumes identities as he needs them, discarding the old ones as he goes. To interact with art professor Dennis “Bunny” Finch-Hayden, Fitzhugh becomes the more upper crust sounding Thomas Parke D’Invilliers.
  
  
  Riley is working for two clients. Manny Stairs, real name Shlomo Rabinowitz, (hey, this is Hollywood, remember!) wants Riley to find a girl who is a exact physical match to his dead girlfriend. Riley has been hired ($25 dollars a day plus expenses) to trace a lost Monet which was stolen and replaced with a fake.
  
  
  I actually enjoyed the book for a while, but the clichés just do not seem to stop. Since it is Hollywood 1934 there has to be the requisite “casting couch” references. It wouldn’t be hardboiled without a shady side to the detective, so we learn he’s been involved in at least two under the table deals.
  
  
  One was undercover with the FBI, but had all gone to Riley’s plan he would have stolen the proceeds. This may be the one original point in the whole book! Mort misses the opportunity to build on this momentum…
  
  
  There are the gambling ships anchored off the three mile limit, cigarette girls, Jewish gangsters, Italian gangsters, a touch of the Chicago mob and so on. Then there is the game of bed swapping that involves the PI and several women. It’s been done before, yeah?
  
  
  I’m having a bit of trouble finding an original idea. The murders would be fine if about half of the cliché stuff were trimmed away. No, it isn’t a unique case, but the presentation could have been salvaged. It is sad that in the end, I lost interest in this book.
  
  
  I give the book two stars…
  
  
  Quoth the Raven…
  
• 
  Heather

  I was looking to download a book to my Audible account for a holiday weekend road trip. Mysteries aren't normally my thing but this one caught my eye because a) it was set in L.A. in the 1930s which is a fun era to read about, old Hollywood and all that and b) it was only $3.95.
  
  It was ok. The mentions of all of the L.A. locations were fun to hear about and imagine what it was like to live there at that time, but it wasn't the most suspenseful mystery. Also, why are male private detectives or characters like that always such male whores?! The main character slept with every woman he came in contact with! I remember during my brief dalliance with Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington novels, he couldn't keep it in his pants either.
  
  At the end of the day, I ended up putting it on 2x speed to finish it up a little quicker. Eh. It was only $3.95 and kept me occupied during my road trip. I'm going back to what I said earlier though. Mysteries aren't really my thing.
• 
  JayeL

  I wasn't expecting much from this book. I bought it when it attracted my attention on sale. I ended up appreciating the perspective and the writing. I thought this would be a stereotypical 'cheap' detective novel and the writing started out reinforcing that thought. As I read, I realized that the main character, Bruno (Tom), was different. He wasn't a failed police officer or a drunk (though there was plenty of drinking) just making ends me. He is an amused, but also engaged observer. He is very insightful when he describes the various characters. I thought the story was interesting and liked the pacing. It is set in about 1934 and the feeling of the Depression only come through a little bit. I think that is intentional because of the Hollywood/Southern California setting. This might be an interesting series.
• 
  Carl

  Wonderful cozy mystery. Bright, shiny language throughout. Characters are perfectly exaggerated so that they remain somewhat plausible and yet slightly cartoonish. Lots of snappy one-liners that made me laugh out loud. The weakest part of the novel (the only weak part) is the plot. At various points our detective wonders why he is considering doing X, Y, and Z. We, as readers, wonder, too, because it makes no sense. He's not even being paid by anyone.
  
  I will definitely read something else by Terry Mort.
• 
  Richard

  I'm not sure why I - even kind of - liked this one. The mysteries are negligible, and I kept waiting for a twist that never came. The classic setting is fun, though, and the narrator is a very horny young man that every woman in the book considers irresistible, so there's quite a bit of (not at all graphic) sex instead of the tough guy fisticuffs that usually pepper a story like this.
  
  A pleasant enough light diversion.
• 
  Mark Summers

  This book is a delight. It's a treat. THE MONET MURDERS is an enjoyable, light confection, that leaves one ready to have another one. Terry Mort has given readers a book written in "the classic hardboiled style" ala Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, and the like, only more obviously "tongue-in-cheek" than those.
• 
  Jim Harville

  Meh. Probably I expected too much. This is not a pastiche of hard-boiled 1930's LA private eyes. The author writes well, but he's cute, not a wise-ass. Too many "perfect" dames, too much "best sex ever," no sense of danger, and a pretty disappointing climax to a meandering plot. L.A. in the thirties looks fun, though. And it apparently was really easy to get into show business.
• 
  Villy

  Not a horrible book. Not a great book. Simply a forgettable one. I read it a while ago and liked it well enough. Saw it on my bookshelf the other day, neither the title nor the blurb brought any recollection of it back. Read the whole thing, thought I'd rate it here and only then I realized I've already read and rated it in the past.
  
  That tells it all really.
• 
  Kathleen Valentine

  I'm a little over halfway thru this book and am loving it. The writing is excellent and it's written in the style of old-fashioned, hard-boiled detective novels that remind you of Raymond Chandler or Philip K. Dick. Set in Depression-era Hollywood, it is both amusing and fascinating.
• 
  Andy Plonka

  I wish the plot had centered more on the Monet painting rather than Hollywood personalities. The few bits about art forgery were interesting and the murder not unbelievable, but there was too much movie glitz for my taste
• 
  Kerryn

  There wasn't much murder mystery to this book. The setting and subject matter weren't greatly appealing either. If you're keen on art and 1930s Hollywood you may enjoy - the author did have a certain flair for the times.
• 
  Tasha

  A good book, very well-written, but not my thing. Had no desire to pick it up again once I'd put it down.