'The Comedy Is Finished,' A Time-Capsule Crime Caper By The Late Donald E. Westlake

I've been reading Donald E. Westlake's crime novels since I was a teenager. I believe I read my first Westlake novel, The Busy Body, in the early 1960s.

So I think it was good of him to leave us with a posthumous crime novel called The Comedy is Finished. I have a copy of the novel and I plan to read it soon.

I also like that Westlake's publisher, Hard Case Crime, uses  old-school crime book covers that feature beautiful, half-naked girls and guns. I recall vividly the thrill of picking up many a paperback crime thriller with these provocative covers when I was a teenager.    

Patrick Anderson's review of Westlake's novel appears in the Washington Post.

“The Comedy Is Finished” is one of the best Westlake novels I’ve read. I think it has one major problem that arises from its appearing three decades after it was written, but that won’t bother everyone. No dates are mentioned, but the story is clearly set in the late 1970s. Five Vietnam-era radicals — think of them as remnants of the Weathermen — kidnap a famous comedian called Koo Davis, who, like Bob Hope, is famous for his film comedies, USO shows and snarky humor. The terrorists announce that they’ll kill the supposedly beloved comedian unless the authorities release 10 other radicals from prison.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-the-comedy-is-finished-by-donald-e-westlake/2012/02/13/gIQAeAZ1NR_story.html

I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus And Other Crime Stories From Otto Penzler

One of the books I enjoyed over the holiday season was Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop.

Edited by Otto Penzler, the noted publisher, editor and anthologist of mysteries, crime fiction, true crime and thrillers, as well as the longtime owner of the famous Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, this collection offers original short stories by some of our best crime writers.

"As a way of thanking our customers for their support, I have commissioned an original story from some of the finest mystery writers in America each Christmas season for the past 17 years," Penzler wrote in the introduction of the book. "These stories are then published in handsome booklets and given to my customers as a Christmas present. The only criteria for the authors were that the stories should be set during the Christmas season, involve a mystery, and have at least some of the action take place at The Mysterious Bookshop."

Penzler went on to write that the stories have ranged from humorous to suspenseful to heartwarming. In this year's collection, the late, great crime writer Ed McBain, a/k/a Evan Hunter, a/k/a Salvatore Lombino, offers an interesting story called I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus. Donald E. Westlake, another great writer who recently passed on, offers a short story featuring his series character Dortmunder called Give Till It Hurts.

There are also fine stories by Andrew Klavan, Charles Ardai, Lawrence Block, and other crime and mystery writers. Although the holidays are over (except for the after-Christmas shoppers), you can extend the season by reading Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop.

You can also read more about Otto Penzler (seen in the above photo) in a Los Angeles Times piece via the link below:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-et-otto-penzler-20101223,0,6751503.story