Rating: 
Summary: Very Funny
Review: Ben Elton has written a number of novels which are laugh out loud funny. In recent times popcorn was a little dissapointng but this book represents his return to top form.In the midst of a Big Brother type TV program one contestant is killed. The investitgation is undertaken by a conservative detective who is a lover of fine novels, the music of Mozart and the plays of Ibsen. A lot of the comedy is based on his shock at being forced to watch tape after tape of schlock television. The actual mystery is carefully calculated so that it is not clear till the end who has done it. The plot rollicks along with suspicion going one way and then another. Part of the joy of the book is that it is an amazingly well drawn explanation of how reality television works and how the producters manipulate the product. If you buy the book, you will read it at one sitting and laugh out loud for most of the time.
Rating:
Summary: reality TV? something to die for...
Review: Ben Elton is in good form with "Dead Famous". He captures the absurdity of reality TV ("Big Brother") perfectly in this lighthearted murder mystery. I think British readers will also relish his use of colloquial slang used by today's youths (whereas the American readers might be a bit puzzled). My only complaint has to do with the characterizations: they are a bit too stereotypical, and their inane dialogue does grow tiresome. However this is a book one must not take too seriously. Bottom line: great fun. One of Elton's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: reality TV? something to die for...
Review: Ben Elton is in good form with "Dead Famous". He captures the absurdity of reality TV ("Big Brother") perfectly in this lighthearted murder mystery. I think British readers will also relish his use of colloquial slang used by today's youths (whereas the American readers might be a bit puzzled). My only complaint has to do with the characterizations: they are a bit too stereotypical, and their inane dialogue does grow tiresome. However this is a book one must not take too seriously. Bottom line: great fun. One of Elton's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Reality TV Rules
Review: Ben Elton ridicules the human desire for fame with a comical murder mystery based on a reality television show. His style and explanations are both refreshing and pinpoint accurate. I enjoyed 'Dead Famous' for the taunt at our 'MTV' society, the comparison between a 'Death Show' to the entertainment value crowds took pleasure in when gladiators fought in Roman coliseums.
'Dead Famous' is a delightful and well written story.
Rating:
Summary: A diverting little mystery
Review: Ben Elton takes a page from the Agatha Christie style of murder mystery--bring together a group of potential suspects, let a murder occur and then have an outside try to piece together the threads that will deliver the solution. Elton's twist on this classic story of the genre is to have the murder take place inside a reality TV show house where all the action is broadcast to the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With all that coverage, how could someone commit the crime in question, much less have there be a mystery surrounding it? Edlund does a nice job with creating the situation and populating it with interesting characters. And the hook of the murder taking place inside a Big Brother type house is enough to keep you turning the pages. There are lots of red herrings in the book and the identity of the murderer won't be too shocking when you finally find out who it is. But the mystery itself isn't necessariliy what I'd call terribly deep or complex. But then again, this book isn't intended to be deep and complex on the same level as a Minette Walters or an Elizabeth George novel. Instead, what you get are some rather memorable characters that inhabit the story. There's an awfully lot of rather witty dialogue and some interesting observances on the popularity of reality TV and what it means to our culture. Also looked at is the type of people who go on these shows. Yes, there's a lot of emphasis on wanting to make things sexy and interesting for the sake of ratings. In the end, the story isn't necessarily the deepest, but the book is still an entertaining one. It's not going to require a great deal of thought. It's an ideal read for a long summer afternoon by the pool or after a long day of work when you don't want to work the grey cells too much.
Rating:
Summary: Death in the fast lane
Review: Ben Elton writes as he performs - 100 miles an hour with few stops for breath. Warning - do not start reading this unless you have time to finish it in one sitting. Once you have started you will not stop. The old formula of the whodunnit story bringing together a group of people under one roof is brilliantly translated into a 'Big Brother' house. The whole thing is televised by Peeping Tom Productions, including the murder. The inmates are repulsive in every way. Only the physically repulsive anarchist Woggle is a likeable character although he also has his dark side. Best of all is the portrayal of the cynicism of reality TV. The ending was a touch predictable but no less entertaining and clever for that. A great read.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead Famous is Dead Funny
Review: Dead Famous is a hilarious satire of today's pop culture. Ben Elton's novel follows the "escapades" of an old fashioned police officer, Coleridge, and his colleagues, who are attempting to solve the mystery of a reality show contestant. This book uses wonderful literary techniques, using flashbacks and third-person irony, not even revealing the victim until well into the book. Overall, this was an outstanding and witty satire, filled with insights that are patheticly accurate. I recommend this book to everyone who has ever criticized today's society!
Rating:
Summary: Good Ellery Queen style whodunit
Review: Ellery Queen comes to mind as the sort of Golden Age detective novelist who might have promulgated DEAD FAMOUS had he (or the two men who collaborated to produce the Ellery Queen books) lived on into the age of reality TV. Ben Elton's spoof show, HOUSE ARREST, is so similar to the tripe on TV you'd think he had been a contestant himself on one of those awful, shameless shows. So some of the elements may be satiric (surely no producer could be that banal and greedy) but otherwise it sticks close to the bone, and some of the characters are hilarious in their ignorance and their shameless self-promotion. To me it seems that at least one of the characters, the classical actor turned porn star, would have done anything to get out of appearing on TV for fear of recognition, but maybe in Britain audience recognition is somewhat different than here in TV.
Best of all, you will not guess who killed poor Kelly. I tried afterwards to work it all out in my mind how it was done, but as I say Ellery Queen would have taken off his hat to Ben Elton.
By the way, the hot tub scene during which the murder was done turned out to be very sexual. BIG UP to BEN for that. Is this the same Ben Elton who wrote the musical for Andrew Lloyd Webber and the other one with all the songs by Queen? He's a boy with many strings to his bow. Add a star for versatility.
Rating: 
Summary: Sketch work.
Review: February 11, 2003 This is the second Ben Elton book I've read. The first
was "The Other Eden." He has a quick, lean style that
borders on being anti-literature. His only intent seems
to be comic effect (along with some dead easy social
target practice). It's a forgivable style, then, if you
laugh. I found 'Dead Famous' mostly amusing (four outright
chuckles, if you absolutely need a count, along with
several twitches of the lips). The subject matter
renders some of the comedy obvious and some of it
downright redundant. Still, as an afternoon's read,
it's worth a used bookstore price.
Rating:
Summary: Ten little snugglers or the housetrap
Review: Get ready for a satire of the "Big Brother" kind of programs that's also a modern version of the classical mystery story : a small group of people enclosed in a limited space,one of them a killer:Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" or " Murder in the sky" spring to mind. The satire and the mystery intertwine in a delicious manner,so that the clues to the reader (there are some) are almost undetectable. The charachters are plausible, the interplay sometimes wildly funny. I've loved it, especially the trick of adding a further touch of uncertainty, by letting you guess who the victim shall be. The end is pure Nero Wolfe and Hercule Poirot: the suspects re-united,and the detective who having summarised the case, absolves the innocents and culminate pointing the index finger to the culprit. All in the modern showbiz multimedial setting. That's also a social satire from a conservative point of view, and some point Ben Elton makes are worth consideration. What can I say more? Dead Famous has to be read to be believed.
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