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7th out of 12 books
—
3 voters
The Corpse Wore Pasties (Hard Case Crime, #62)
WHO BUMPED OFF THE BUMP-AND-GRINDER?
Usually, when you call a burlesque act a “show stopper,” you don't mean it quite so literally. But this time, that's just what happened: The show stopped dead, and so did the girl. And as I looked at her nearly naked and completely lifeless body and the bottle of poison in her hand with my fingerprints all over it, I thought to myself: P
...moreMass Market Paperback, 223 pages
Published
December 24th 2009
by Hard Crime Case
(first published December 2009)
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When Victoria Vice, widely hated in the burlesque world for being a blatant plagiarist, winds up dead, none other than Jonny Porkpie ends up being blamed. After all, he's the one that the entire audience saw hand her the prop bottle containing real poison. In order to clear his name, Porkpie goes on a quest through the burlesque world to find out who framed him. Only, maybe things aren't exactly as they seem...
The Corse Wore Pasties, aside from having one of the better titles in the Hard Case Cr...more
The Corse Wore Pasties, aside from having one of the better titles in the Hard Case Cr...more
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As soon as I saw this title, I knew I'd give the book at least 3 stars based on it alone. It's a bonus that it's actually a humorous and entertaining story.
Jonny Porkpie is the self proclaimed Burlesque Mayor of New York City. Not only did he write this, he's the main character. It reminded me of the Kinky Friedman mysteries, with an eccentric New Yorker making a funny fictional story out of his real life.
Porkpie is a producer and host for burlesque shows. While guest-hosting a show for a friend...more
Jonny Porkpie is the self proclaimed Burlesque Mayor of New York City. Not only did he write this, he's the main character. It reminded me of the Kinky Friedman mysteries, with an eccentric New Yorker making a funny fictional story out of his real life.
Porkpie is a producer and host for burlesque shows. While guest-hosting a show for a friend...more
If this book's title alone doesn't pique your interest, perhaps a summary of its overall tone as "the Thin Man series, with gratuitous nudity" will do the trick. It's a murder mystery set in the world of modern NYC burlesque (of which the author is a star IRL), in which a mean dancer whom nobody liked drops dead onstage during a routine - doing a faceplant into one of the cups of her shucked brassiere, no less - and the fictionalized version of Porkpie is forced to find out who's responsible. Bu...more
Unique voices. I love ’em. Give me a unique voice any day of the week, and twice on Thursdays, and I’ll follow it around like an oversexed twenty-one year old with a fistful of ones might follow a big-breasted blonde stripper named Trixie. And that’s what I love most about the hard-boiled mystery genre: we’re never short on unique voices. And if we are, we just conjure up a few fedoras from the past with our fistful of ones, and we’re bound to have ourselves a banging good time.
And then there’s...more
And then there’s...more
8 likes · like · see review
With this title, I had to buy it, but now I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's not quite a spoof, but I can't imagine that this was meant to be taken seriously, either. "The Corpse Wore Pasties" reads like one of those ghosted 1940s celebrity mystery novels in which George Sanders or Joan Leslie or, more pertinently, Gypsy Rose Lee appeared as the author and protagonist (though there is some evidence that Gypsy actually wrote "The G-String Murders" with minimal help). Jonny Porkpie, the "...more
While I wouldn't hesitate to recommend someone who's watched Porkpie's schtick on stage to buy the book.
If you ARE planning to read the book, watch this first:
The Demo reel of the real-life "Nasty Canasta," http://youtu.be/Klzqr74ugCc
As a stand alone book, I'd give it only one star. It's terribly written and the characters are laughably two-dimensional.
If you're a fan of Porkpie's "Mayor of NYC Burlesque" antics (or if your city has a decent burlesque scene), however...
I used to see a lot of...more
If you ARE planning to read the book, watch this first:
The Demo reel of the real-life "Nasty Canasta," http://youtu.be/Klzqr74ugCc
As a stand alone book, I'd give it only one star. It's terribly written and the characters are laughably two-dimensional.
If you're a fan of Porkpie's "Mayor of NYC Burlesque" antics (or if your city has a decent burlesque scene), however...
I used to see a lot of...more
A very fun murder mystery. I'd never heard of the author before, who is also the hero of this story. A humorous look at the raunchier side of NYC without a lot of violence or explicit sex - although lots of the latter are implied & of course someone did get killed. It was hard not to laugh out loud while reading many times.
http://www.jonnyporkpie.com/
Jonny Porkpie: The Burlesque Mayor of New York City, candidate for "actual" mayor of NYC, co-producer of Pinchbottom Burlesque the "Best Burle...more
http://www.jonnyporkpie.com/
Jonny Porkpie: The Burlesque Mayor of New York City, candidate for "actual" mayor of NYC, co-producer of Pinchbottom Burlesque the "Best Burle...more
Jonny Porkpie, the self-professed Burlesque Mayor of New York, watched the stripper die right in the middle of her act, taking real poison instead of what she thought was fake, in her suicide act.
Now he is the only suspect in her murder. Never mind the fact that every other stripper hated her because she liked to steal other women's acts, in fact having done so this very night. She cleverly connived to get Jonny to get her slot in the show moved up so that she'd perform the act first. And she'd...more
Now he is the only suspect in her murder. Never mind the fact that every other stripper hated her because she liked to steal other women's acts, in fact having done so this very night. She cleverly connived to get Jonny to get her slot in the show moved up so that she'd perform the act first. And she'd...more
This was quite a lively romp! I had never read a hard case crime before, and this was a fun little treat. It seems the world of burlesque is dangerous, especially if you are Victoria Vice and notorious for stealing the acts from your fellow performers. It appears that Victoria steals one act too many, and manages to die onstage with various onlookers. It is up to the author, Jonny Porkpie, the mayor of burlesque, to take the case, because his fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. His girl...more
I didn't connect this Hard Case Crime book to Christa Faust's "Money Shot" until I was a bit into it, although it does have some superficial similarities: Murder mystery taking place with a background of adult entertainment, written by someone with knowledge of the field. Burlesque's a different thing than porn, of course, so "Pasties" is distinctly lighter.
As murder mysteries go, it's not great; the solution is pretty obvious from the start, and the various suspects have a tendency to blur toge...more
As murder mysteries go, it's not great; the solution is pretty obvious from the start, and the various suspects have a tendency to blur toge...more
Classic pulp in the Carter Brown tradition. The competitive world of burlesque is exposed as an unpopular performer is murdered on stage seemingly by her own prop with the self proclaimed Burlesque Mayor of New York City the prime suspect. Throughout the novel, Jonny Porkpie (author and protagonist) sets out to clear his name and find the true killer in typical who-done-it fashion. A very enjoyable, fast paced read. 5 stars.
It took about 40 pages for me to get into the book, but once I did it was a lot of fun. I liked the tone of the narrator and love his "interogations" of each girl. The solution to the crime was neat and smart. I don't know if Porkpie has written other novels, but I'd be more than willing to give them a try if they are as funny and cool as this one was. It took only about 90 minutes to read, but is worth the time.
I haven't read Gypsy Rose Lee's stripper mystery, so this is clearly the best one I've ever read. Zippy screwball-comedy dialogue, the ins and outs of life in this subculture, plus a decent mystery as well. OK, I guessed who it would be on p.183, the book being otherwise devoid of suspects at that point, but as retro-/ironic/pastiche detective fiction goes, pretty darn fun.
Pure and simply a fun book to read. A murder in a burlesque show starts the book, and our narrator, Johnny Porkpie is the lead suspect. The story is about him trying to find the murderer so he doesn't end up in Jail. The other suspects are all burlesque performers from the show, and his interactions with them and the two cops are funny and enjoyable.
Scruffy and fun whodunnit set in the colorful world of pasties and g-strings. Not overly complex or gritty as some of the other Hard Case books, but it was a fun distraction for a few hours. You couldn't ask for anything else especially with a great title and cover like that. More of a 3 1/2 than a 4, really.
A who-dunnit crime story set in the NYC burlesque scene. When a performer dies on stage, Jonny Porkpie finds himself the prime suspect. He decides the best way to clear his name is to find the murderer. I can't believe how quickly I read this, proving how good it was!
For fans of the pulp genre, this books is a great read for something light. A perfect palette cleanser in between books that are a bit more meaty. Not literary by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely fun.
Not sure it's appropriate to call this "cute", but... a funny, fast-paced whodunnit; started it this morning and finished it today. Found myself snickering, and never when I wasn't supposed to.
This isn't great literature, but it's fun. The author is Johnny Porkpie, the self-titled Mayor of Burlesque New York.
A fun read and a quircky twist to the Hard Case Crime pulp novel series.
2 stars - style: blah, who-dunnit: obvious - but 1 extra for setting.
5 stars for the whole presentation, author/title/funniness
oh yes, I'll probably read it again. loved it!
Trash but a fun quick read.
Best dialog ever!
A good page turner, and the bonus of seeing a world with fresh eyes.
Very entertaining. The story and the characters are both suspenseful and funny. I read the whole book in one afternoon, when I should have been staining my deck.
Particularly, the way that the sections of the book begin is very amusing. They tell you what is going to happen at the end, and it works here.
Particularly, the way that the sections of the book begin is very amusing. They tell you what is going to happen at the end, and it works here.
For the full review (and to learn how Alaina managed to get through college -- no, not like that), click the link to That's What She Read.
Very terrible. A garbage story, poorly structured and full of painful humor. Easily the worst "Hard Case Crime" I've read. Great title though.
Highly enjoyable!! I definitely recommend this to anyone who is into burlesque and/or pulp ;) He's cheeky, that one!
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