The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Murder Case

Rating:
Summary: Dance Until You Drop
Review: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were a wonderful on-screen pair and everyone loved their simple charm. I think Baxt captures that charm in this little book. Like all of his celebrity mysteries, this is a satire, and I think it portrays the McCarthy hearings quite well. Life in Hollywood in 1953 was difficult and everyone looked at everyone else to try to figure our whether or not they were "commies". In this book we see Fred and Ginger smack in the middle of a Russian espionage scam. Ginger's therapist dies and Villon and Mallory know that he was poisoned. What's his background and history? They find out and its a world of double agents, family rivalries and Communist underworld. Of course Villon figures it out, but even he is surprised to find out who the "kingpin" is.

Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable, if Implausible, Read
Review: I picked up this book because I have always loved Astaire and Rodgers. However, when I started reading, I was dissapointed. The plot seems a little farfetched. I think there were too many characters, and I kept wondering why everybody knew each other. Russia is a large country, but reading this book makes it seem like a small town. However, this book did manage to keep me interested in what happened at the end. I would read it for distraction because it is by no means great literature.

Rating:
Summary: odd, yet...
Review: Like many of Baxt's novels, this one goes a little off-track with all the characters and spies, et cetera. However, that, in this humble reader's opinion, is part of the charm. These mysteries were obviously not written for deep, critical analysis, but for simple enjoyment. All the characters, and there are many, are fleshed out, and if the plot lacks bits that are shoved in a bit too hurriedly at the end, well that's just part of the charm. Another three cheers for George Baxt. And for Fred and Ginger.