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Murder in Pastiche: Or, Nine Detectives All at Sea
Murder in Pastiche takes us aboard the RMS Florabunda on its voyage from Liverpool to New York in the 1950s. Incredibly, among the passengers are nine famous detectives. After an influential (and despised) American gossip columnist is found murdered, each takes a hand at solving the mystery. Everyone, passenger or crew, is a suspect -- and is thoroughly and amusingly eccentric.
Aboard the heaving, pitching Florabunda the story twists and turns as Marion Mainwaring deftly parodies Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot), Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Michael Innes (Sir John Appleby), Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Alleyn), Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), and Patricia Wentworth (Miss Maude Silver). Their sleuths rush to solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again; or, worse, the ship arrives in America and they become "the laughingstock of two continents" unable to find whodunit despite their individual and collective brilliance.
At its debut in 1954, Murder in Pastiche was hailed by Anthony Boucher in the New York Times as a “wonderous book” which would be “a permanent addition--both as criticism and as entertainment--to the detective bookshelf.” It has been enjoyed by mystery fans around the world, including William Faulkner (as his niece Dean Faulkner Wells notes in her memoir "Every Day by the Sun"). Sally Rowena Munt in her feminist analysis of crime novels "Murder by the Book?" praises Mainwaring's satirical if affectionate critique of the genre's "generic machismo" and "historic phallocentricity." After being out of print for a number of years, this Kindle edition offers a new generation of readers the pleasure of this wickedly flawless pastiche from the early years of the Cold War and the waning years of transatlantic passenger ship travel.
Aboard the heaving, pitching Florabunda the story twists and turns as Marion Mainwaring deftly parodies Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot), Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Michael Innes (Sir John Appleby), Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Alleyn), Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), and Patricia Wentworth (Miss Maude Silver). Their sleuths rush to solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again; or, worse, the ship arrives in America and they become "the laughingstock of two continents" unable to find whodunit despite their individual and collective brilliance.
At its debut in 1954, Murder in Pastiche was hailed by Anthony Boucher in the New York Times as a “wonderous book” which would be “a permanent addition--both as criticism and as entertainment--to the detective bookshelf.” It has been enjoyed by mystery fans around the world, including William Faulkner (as his niece Dean Faulkner Wells notes in her memoir "Every Day by the Sun"). Sally Rowena Munt in her feminist analysis of crime novels "Murder by the Book?" praises Mainwaring's satirical if affectionate critique of the genre's "generic machismo" and "historic phallocentricity." After being out of print for a number of years, this Kindle edition offers a new generation of readers the pleasure of this wickedly flawless pastiche from the early years of the Cold War and the waning years of transatlantic passenger ship travel.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1955
17 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Marion Mainwaring
11 books2 followersMarion Mainwaring is an American writer, translator, and critic.
Mainwaring is best known as the author who completed Edith Wharton's novel The Buccaneers, published in 1993. She earlier assisted R. W. B. Lewis in researching his Pulitzer- and Bancroft-prize-winning 1976 biography of Wharton. A novelist in her own right, she wrote the novel Murder in Pastiche: or Nine Detectives All at Sea (1954), parodying nine famous fictional detectives, and Murder at Midyears (1953). She translated Youth and Age: Three Novellas by Ivan Turgenev and edited The Portrait Game, records of a parlor game played by Turgenev and his friends. Her most recent work is Mysteries of Paris: The Quest for Morton Fullerton (2001), a biography of Wharton's lover.
Wikipedia
Mainwaring is best known as the author who completed Edith Wharton's novel The Buccaneers, published in 1993. She earlier assisted R. W. B. Lewis in researching his Pulitzer- and Bancroft-prize-winning 1976 biography of Wharton. A novelist in her own right, she wrote the novel Murder in Pastiche: or Nine Detectives All at Sea (1954), parodying nine famous fictional detectives, and Murder at Midyears (1953). She translated Youth and Age: Three Novellas by Ivan Turgenev and edited The Portrait Game, records of a parlor game played by Turgenev and his friends. Her most recent work is Mysteries of Paris: The Quest for Morton Fullerton (2001), a biography of Wharton's lover.
Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 25, 2019
It is a clever idea and Ms. Mainwaring pulled it off fairly well. She mostly captured the style and feel of each of the nine detectives who JUST HAPPENED to be travelling on the same ship where a murder is committed. Mike Hammer (portrayed by Spike Bludgeon) was a bit over the top though; Nero Wolfe (a.k.a. Trajan Baere) was spot on. The mystery itself was so-so, but the reader was provided with enough clues (mostly) to come up with the solution. It is tongue-in-cheek and fun to read, even though switching between detectives can give one a bit of the mal de mer.
August 11, 2022
Bad week for me, so my thoughts on this book should be taken with a grain of salt.
The nine detectives are parodies of Golden Age detectives. Clever premise, but for me, too slow. Crime is investigated through each detective’s point of view, with little interaction between them. Two-thirds through I had lost interest. Fast forwarded to solution.
For me, 2-1/2 stars.
The nine detectives are parodies of Golden Age detectives. Clever premise, but for me, too slow. Crime is investigated through each detective’s point of view, with little interaction between them. Two-thirds through I had lost interest. Fast forwarded to solution.
For me, 2-1/2 stars.
June 7, 2023
Ridiculous and fun--a very neat parody of some of my favorite fictional detectives! A bit slow in places, but not too much.
January 30, 2013
I've never been a huge fan of mystery parodies. Maybe it's because I really hated Murder by Death, the really horrible parody movie from 1976, from the first time I watched it. Now I know many people who love the movie, I just can never get into it. I even tried watching it again once I was done with this book, I still can't stand it.
As you can tell by the names in the synopsis, this is a parody to rival all parodies. It takes nine famous literary detectives, changes their names, and sets them on a boat where a rat like man is bumped off by a person or persons unknown. If you are familiar with a good swath of detective fiction, you should be able to figure out who they are by the names, if not, the author takes it too another level. She breaks the book down into sections, each section details the steps an individual sleuth takes to solve the case. She not only uses the methods the detective would use, but she tries to duplicate the style of the actual authors who created the originals. Now this wouldn't be a parody if the author didn't exaggerate the style and methods of both the creation and the creator. She takes their quirks and makes jokes out of them, she takes their personalities and makes them into cartoons.
I think this is where mystery parody loses me, what I enjoy about most of the "real" detectives are their quirks and strange methodology. Even if I whine and cry about a certain detective's egotism, I wouldn't have it any other way. With the detectives I love, I don't mind that certain words get used too much or that every mystery they investigate can be solved using the same unique technique. It's what makes Golden Age detective more interesting and different from the generic cozy mystery sleuths of today.
Now I'm not saying Murder in Pastiche was bad, it was okay. They mystery and the motive I found to be clever and worthy of such a collection of heroes. Other than the over the top Spike Bludgeon section, I didn't mind the author's version of these classic characters. I just think that I prefer the original over the parody.
As you can tell by the names in the synopsis, this is a parody to rival all parodies. It takes nine famous literary detectives, changes their names, and sets them on a boat where a rat like man is bumped off by a person or persons unknown. If you are familiar with a good swath of detective fiction, you should be able to figure out who they are by the names, if not, the author takes it too another level. She breaks the book down into sections, each section details the steps an individual sleuth takes to solve the case. She not only uses the methods the detective would use, but she tries to duplicate the style of the actual authors who created the originals. Now this wouldn't be a parody if the author didn't exaggerate the style and methods of both the creation and the creator. She takes their quirks and makes jokes out of them, she takes their personalities and makes them into cartoons.
I think this is where mystery parody loses me, what I enjoy about most of the "real" detectives are their quirks and strange methodology. Even if I whine and cry about a certain detective's egotism, I wouldn't have it any other way. With the detectives I love, I don't mind that certain words get used too much or that every mystery they investigate can be solved using the same unique technique. It's what makes Golden Age detective more interesting and different from the generic cozy mystery sleuths of today.
Now I'm not saying Murder in Pastiche was bad, it was okay. They mystery and the motive I found to be clever and worthy of such a collection of heroes. Other than the over the top Spike Bludgeon section, I didn't mind the author's version of these classic characters. I just think that I prefer the original over the parody.
November 2, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
August 8, 2020
For fans of Golden Age Detective novels, this book’s a treat. The author parodies nine of the top sleuths of the day (criminally omitting Fell and Merrivale) working to solve a murder on a crossing. Each chapter focuses on a different detective and Mainwaring apes the prose style of that detective’s author. And while she does such a good job of it she reminds me why I prefer some writers to others, it leaves little chance for Poirot, Miss Silver, Queen, Mason, Wolfe, Hammer, Wimsey, Appelby, and Allen to interact with one another. It’s a lot of fun but it can’t help begin feeling rote, and more like one of those Detective Club round-robin novels as opposed to an actual detective novel. It reminds me of The Three Detectives, maybe nine was too many. Too bad this wasn’t used as the source material for Murder by Death, though, because this story trumps that tenfold. I’m keen to discover what Mainwaring’s own style was like so I’m off to track down her only other mystery novel.
March 3, 2021
A remarkable romp through the the styles of the writers of the golden age of mystery. From Agatha Christy, through Dorothy Sayers, with host of others in between, this was a real joy to discover. What amazed me was how Ms. Mainwarring was able to combine satire with incredibly skillfull encomium, without losing sight of her story line. Read this! As Adrian Monk might say, "you'll thank me later."
June 5, 2018
Neun berühmte Detektive befinden sich an Bord eines Schiffes. Natürlich geschieht ein Mord und jeder von Ihnen versucht nach seiner Methode, nach seinen Prämissen nach dem Mörder. Jeder findet etwas heraus und doch scheint es, als würden sie erschiedene Fälle bearbeiten. Eine wundervolle Parodie, besonders da, wo ich die Originale kenne. Wie bei “Atlas Poireau” oder “Spike Bludgeon”.
January 4, 2025
It's Brilliant story telling, but...
A Pastiche of nine detectives...
I recognize most, and then some I feel I almost know, but just can't quite place.
And I desperately want to know who those might have been so I can find their books and read their authors tales.
All in all, a very fun read and an enjoyable mystery.
PS has the author posted a list of relevant names anywhere?
A Pastiche of nine detectives...
I recognize most, and then some I feel I almost know, but just can't quite place.
And I desperately want to know who those might have been so I can find their books and read their authors tales.
All in all, a very fun read and an enjoyable mystery.
PS has the author posted a list of relevant names anywhere?
June 30, 2021
Cute
I enjoyed the chapters describing each detective. The styles of the creators are well presented. The storyline lags in places, though. It is a bit repetitive in describing the suspects
I enjoyed the chapters describing each detective. The styles of the creators are well presented. The storyline lags in places, though. It is a bit repetitive in describing the suspects
October 20, 2021
Enjoyable, If you're a fan of classic crime this is worth the read.
February 20, 2013
I'd read this book before, when I was working at Book Affair. In fact, it was one of the many books that I spent my paycheck on while working there.
It was actually better than I remembered. I think this book is most enjoyable by those who've read Golden Age detective fiction. I've read most of Christie's back catalogue, ditto Sayers. I've attempted one of the Nero Wolfe books (I strongly suspect not Stout's best, and I plan to try another). I think that rather than just exaggerating the original's style (although Mainwaring does that a little), the author has also paid homage to it. The Wimsey/Lord Simon Quinsey chapter seemed to me spot on in particular. And there was, in fact, an actual PLOT as well as the pastiche, something that modern "parody" (usually just strung-together pop culture references) would do well to emulate.
Mainwaring also has me wanting to read the other detectives: Perry Mason, Mike Hammer, Miss Silver, Sir John Appleby, Roderick Alleyn, Ellery Queen. Mainwaring shows herself through her loving pastiche to be a real fan of the detective novel, and the odd characters who inhabit it.
It was actually better than I remembered. I think this book is most enjoyable by those who've read Golden Age detective fiction. I've read most of Christie's back catalogue, ditto Sayers. I've attempted one of the Nero Wolfe books (I strongly suspect not Stout's best, and I plan to try another). I think that rather than just exaggerating the original's style (although Mainwaring does that a little), the author has also paid homage to it. The Wimsey/Lord Simon Quinsey chapter seemed to me spot on in particular. And there was, in fact, an actual PLOT as well as the pastiche, something that modern "parody" (usually just strung-together pop culture references) would do well to emulate.
Mainwaring also has me wanting to read the other detectives: Perry Mason, Mike Hammer, Miss Silver, Sir John Appleby, Roderick Alleyn, Ellery Queen. Mainwaring shows herself through her loving pastiche to be a real fan of the detective novel, and the odd characters who inhabit it.
May 27, 2020
This was first published in 1954 and I first read it in 1977. As indicated by the title this is a humorous mystery set on a ship sailing from England to the USA where nine thinly disguised fictional detectives try to solve a murder. When I first read this I was only familiar with the creations of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Ellery Queen, Dorothy L Sayers and Patricia Wentworth and so it was this book which encouraged me to read the works of Michael Innes, Rex Stout, and Erle Stanley Gardner. I even read a couple of Mickey Spillane's books before deciding I did not like his style.
I had been re-reading the novels of some of the above mentioned authors lately so I though I should seek out again the book that inspired me to start reading them back in the 1970s.
I probably enjoyed this more this time around as I was familiar with all the detectives and could appreciate more the author's handling of them. OK the story is not great but it's a very entertaining read.
I had been re-reading the novels of some of the above mentioned authors lately so I though I should seek out again the book that inspired me to start reading them back in the 1970s.
I probably enjoyed this more this time around as I was familiar with all the detectives and could appreciate more the author's handling of them. OK the story is not great but it's a very entertaining read.
May 25, 2015
Should have a higher rating!
The story is great fun; the pastiche were excellent, and I was delighted that each detective's chapter was written in the style of the character. In these areas I recommend this book without reservation.
That said, however, if the publisher is going to price this book almost like a printed copy, I expect much higher quality than they produced. For this price they need an editor, not merely some moron who cannot distinguish between proofreading and just clicking on a spell-check button. This book is festooned with OCR mistakes ('out' for 'cut' for instance).
Because there were so many of these, and they did materially affect my enjoyment, I have to remove 2 stars and rebuke the publisher for greed and negligence.
The story is great fun; the pastiche were excellent, and I was delighted that each detective's chapter was written in the style of the character. In these areas I recommend this book without reservation.
That said, however, if the publisher is going to price this book almost like a printed copy, I expect much higher quality than they produced. For this price they need an editor, not merely some moron who cannot distinguish between proofreading and just clicking on a spell-check button. This book is festooned with OCR mistakes ('out' for 'cut' for instance).
Because there were so many of these, and they did materially affect my enjoyment, I have to remove 2 stars and rebuke the publisher for greed and negligence.
August 10, 2009
The author does a fun job of parodying the styles and most famous characters of 9 mystery authors popular when this book was writen-1954- (Lord Peter Wimsey, Perry Mason, Hercule Poirot, etc.)This is a traditional "golden age style" mystery set on a cruise ship sailing from England to New York. Each of the 9 thinly disguised detectives has a long chapter in that authors style which solves part of the mystery-the murder of a thoroughly unpleasant indvidual...
February 15, 2023
A clever idea not very well cared out, though to be fair perhaps more of an exercises than a work rot be read.
April 12, 2017
Quite clever.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews