Graveyard of My Own

by Ron Goulart

Soon after moving into their new home on the Connecticut shore, commercial artist Bert Kurrie and his new wife, Jan, stumble onto the corpse of fellow artist Beau Jassminsky and find themselves potential targets of a killer

Genres: Mystery

170 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, enjoyable traditional murder mystery by Ron Goulart, who is much more well known as a science fiction writer. The background is set in the world of comics (or comics and fandom as it was in the mid-1980s, obviously), and Goulart indulges in quite a bit of good-natured lampooning and satire of the genre as the mystery is unraveled. Some of the attitudes in A Graveyard of My Own are no longer completely politically correctly acceptable, but I think it has aged well and lacks any too objectionable content. The puzzle is straight-forward and surprisingly cleverly investigated and solved; it's an early cozy, a bit of fun fluff with a bit of bite.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 2 out of 5]

review of
Ron Goulart's A Graveyard of my Own
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - August 3, 2012

Oh, well. Since I review every bk I read now I read certain bks to relieve myself of feeling responsible for writing a detailed intellectual review. I enjoy reading Goulart at the same time that I consider his writing to be fluff. I decided to read this one b/c I've only previously read his Sci-Fi & I was curious about how he'd write a mystery.

There are a few quirky distinctive Goulart bits to it: a character who compares every woman he sees to obscure Hollywood starlets, the character pool centering around comic bk artists. Perhaps what interested me the most about it was Goulart's plotting following a fairly linear deductive line. It was all very realistic & believable. This made for somewhat dull & unsurprising reading but established that Goulart cd write this way w/o having to rely on ultra-violence or whatever.

What I really want to read of his are the mysteries that have Groucho Marx as the detective. Or something like that. It seems perhaps a bit too gimmicky but Goulart's pretty entertaining w/ the gimmicks so I imagine he cd pull that off.

Even tho Goulart is clearly a hack writer I still feel a little bad giving this bk such a lacklustre review so I'll recommend looking at this somewhat more thoughtful review of mine of his Wildsmith instead:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65...

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew the comic book business could be so cutthroat? Well, author Ron Goulart for one (since he has written extensively about comic book history) and, for another, Bert Kurrie, the protagonist of "A Graveyard of My Own," a comic book artist who quit Maximus Comics (where he drew "The Human Beast") and fled frenetic NYC for a supposedly bucolic life as a commercial artist in Connecticut. When he discovers the body of a fellow comic book artist, he learns that life in country is not as peaceful as he thought it might be...and then the bodies begin to pile up, all comic book artists. The mystery aspect of this story is presented in a straightforward, nearly pedestrian, manner, almost lampooning the icon of the "amateur sleuth," though the mystery itself is genuinely engaging and complex enough to keep you guessing. The real joys of this book, however, are to be found in the crisp dialogue, the broad humor, and the non-stop satiric swipes at comic books and the people who create and read them. Fanboys beware...you will see yourself somewhere along the way. A very enjoyable book that will appeal to mystery readers and comic book fans. A word of caution though...better read up a little on film stars of Golden Age Hollywood, and you'll never know what the girls look like.