Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery - Fred Van Lente

Category: Adults, Humor, Mystery
Language: English
Keywords: Agatha Christie And Then There Were None isolation Spoof

Written by Fred Van Lente
Read by JD Jackson
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
Release date: 07-11-17
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both a savagely funny homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire.

As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?

A darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and other classics of the genre, Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!

Review - DEBUT Van Lente’s first foray into mystery is both a tribute to Agatha Christie and a dark showbiz satire. Nine comedians (recognizable archetypes) with varying levels of success are invited to the island retreat of renowned comic Dustin Walker. The motley group arrives to find the island deserted and that they are cut off from all communication. And soon they are murdered one by one in brutal traps cleverly related to their individual lives and style of comedy. VERDICT A nifty twist at the end completes this black-humored and cutting-edge homage to Christie’s And Then There Were None. Humor is subjective and not everyone will be amused, but the grisly plotting is strong, as is some of the language.