Hugger-Mugger in the Louvre

Homer Evans #2

by Elliot Paul

The gendarmes are baffled and all Paris is agog at the disappearance of a rare Watteau print. Enter master sleuth Homer Evans, whose hilarious approach to crime-solving follows a twisted trail from the darkest recesses of the Louvre to underworld lairs, the studios of shady art dealers, and an insane asylum. Evans and his zany associates—including his sharpshooting girlfriend, Mademoiselle Montana, and his drinking buddy, Gonzo—trace a bizarre series of clues to uncover an ever-thickening plot involving fraud, kidnapping, and murder.
Author Elliot Paul satirized the conventions of detective fiction with the first Homer Evans adventure, The Mysterious Mickey Finn. This sequel, hailed as "an excellent cocktail" by The New Republic, offers another furious frolic that upends every convention of the traditional murder mystery.

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Elliot Harold Paul was an American journalist and writer.

See also Brett Rutledge.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Homer Evans doesn't want a life of action, and he doesn't want to investigate when a famous painting is stolen from the Louvre. For the life of him, he can't understand why no one else seems to see the problems with the story as it's reported in the newspapers. But he can't turn down a friend in need, so he agrees to the chief of detectives plea for help. Much to everyone else's surprise, the real mystery concerns an Egyptian mummy, a rather sketchy insane asylum, a stuffed chimpanzee, and a missing American businessman. Can Paul put these elements together and come out with a satisfactory conclusion? Don't bet against him.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd one. I didn't enjoy it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. AS it says on the cover. Elliot Paul was satirising the conventions of detective fiction. Homer Evans is reluctant amateur detective with side-kick Miriam, sort of Paul Temple etc.. He is a man who knows most things, and easily makes the Paris police look stupid, all cliches are in place. And that is there to be satirised, but it feels that Paul has not really understood the essentials of the detective novel narrative and so isn't able to provide effective or engaging satire. It is of its time, 1940, but no contemporary resonance, being based roughly early 1930s, and the writing style is largely pedestrian. Very little development of character. This is the second in the series and I may have missed something having not read the first, but even so, there are characters that I think are only relevant to this volume and they have little to no depth. A lot of people chasing around Paris, the narrator explains what is happening more than creating a space in which the characters exist and it is just not a satisfactory read.

[Dave · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing that the first book of the year hits the wall. I am very tolerant of wacky forties humor, but the first thirty pages spent a lot of time recapping Paul's previous book, introducing very annoying characters (including the detective, his friends, the policeman, and many bystanders), and describing the theft of a Watteau painting wittily titled (in translation, I guess) The Pansy. I'm sure it was all much funnier at one time. Great title, though.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable, zany and oddly compelling

The second in the series gives as much pleasure as the first. A gentle satire of the detective-hero saga, the Homer Evans mystery gives us the brilliant, strong and handsome hero, his strong and valiant sidekicks, the sharp-shooting Miriam, aka Mlle. Montana, and a sly poke at American race relations, French provincialism, and all-around human generosity between the Wars.

[Chris Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sought out Hugger-Mugger in the Louvre, a late 1940s novel, as part of a reading challenge to read “a book that is about, or takes place, somewhere you want to visit.” Or, in this case, two places: various districts of Paris, in general, and the Louvre in particular.

Hugger-Mugger in the Louvre is the 2nd in a series (the first is rather intrusively recapped in the early pages of this novel) of humorous mystery novels featuring Homer Evans, a master sleuth firmly in the mould of Sherlock Holmes and a motley assortment of secondary characters ranging from Lvov Kvev, a burly Russian taxi-driver to le Singe (the Monkey), urbane leader of the St Julien Rollers gang. The names of many characters alone should give you an idea of the madcap, Marx Brothers style antics that fill this novel—Hyacinthe Toudoux, Sergeant Schlumberger, the single-monikered Hydrangea—not to mention the chapter titles, whose wordiness echoes Paul’s prose style: “The Quick, The Dead, and Some Others In Between” and “A Sock Filled with Sand, and Joyce’s Ulysses” for example.

The plot, which involves the theft of a small Watteau painting (“L’Indifférent”, here called “The Pansy” in a bit of outdated humor) from the Louvre eventually involves scientists feuding over the effects of French vs Californian wine on the liver, the doctor and proprietor of an asylum imprisoning a toothless American and a Marchionesse in order to profit from a stock-manipulation scheme and an extortion scheme, respectively, an importer/exporter/smuggler named Xerxes using a stuffed monkey as a dead drop…well, you probably get the picture.

The fun of this novel lies in its zany confusion, a kind of mad-dash of humor of larger-than-life characters that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. That very quality, though, will make it a disappointment to those who read mysteries for—well—their mystery, and it can become tedious if not in the right mood. In small doses, though, this is a fun read even if it doesn’t leave you thirsting for more in the series.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book in a series with Homer Evans, the reluctant American sleuth who figures things out well before we do. The hard part of this book is that you meet up with many characters and don't have a grounding of where they all fit together at first. I think this is because the first book did all that work and here it starts in with little intro.

Also the humor is dated for me and I found some of the text- overly indulgent in description. I've had similar problems when watching films from the 1920's that are supposed to be "highly erotic" only to find them so tepid I don't find them erotic at all- but simply a lot of eye movements. So, the high praise on the back of the book on its humor will either work for you or not. For me it I could see the parts that were supposed to be humorous but at this point they feel to me an affectation.

The mystery itself was interesting but the story moved slowly. Texts like this dragged it down for me: "When Luna, pale goddess of the moon, surveyed the land from the dusky horizon, her first glance was directed toward the Sanatorium Sens Unique. For between those grim walls, with bars to streak the silver light sent by their symbol and protector, were her favorites among men. the goddess, in contrast with her rival, the pink-fingered Aurora, took little interest in humans whose lives had the traditional beginning, middle and ending. She would shine disdainfully, if at all, upon bores who insisted that two and two were four. In Dr. Truc's asylum dwelled a company... (the chapter's action is supposed to happen at the asylum.)

So, would I read another of these books, probably not. However, if you like the text I put up here from the book - go at it then.

[Linda J. Sandahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the first of several lighthearted mysteries set in the diverse community of artists and intellectuals that settled in Paris after World War One. This is the Paris of Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Miro, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cocteau, Dali -- influential artistssss with new ideas and new ways of looking at the world.
The protagonist is Homer Evans, an American millionaire of refined (but not effete) tastes.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comedic murder mystery written back in the days when the Marx brothers and The Three Stooges defined comedy. Sort of a Sherlock Holmes tale with humor.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madcap 1940s detective farce set in Paris. Wordy, but often very funny.