Murder Your Darlings

Murder Your Darlings 

by J.J. Murphy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"The members of the Algonquin Round Table didn't usually let the facts get in the way of a good story. Following their example, this book uses fact to fabricate fiction." -- from the author's "Historical Note" 

Set in 1920s New York City this mad-cap adventure of a mystery includes lots of famous people--including a not-very-flattering appearance by Edna St. Vincent Millay--who are pulled into a police investigation when Mrs. Parker finds the body of a theater critic under the table where she is, as usual, meeting her "vicious circle" of friends for lunch. Loitering in the lobby on that very day, hoping to meet Dorthy Parker, is a very young William Faulkner.

The pace of this novel is quick with a lot of action, including a harrowing car chase, and it is full of snappy dialog and colorful characters. The story is told in the third person, but the reader is frequently in the point-of-view of Dorthy Parker so there is a sense of what she thinks and feels about what is happening. Marion Meade's biography of Dorthy Parker, What Fresh Hell is This? is on my tbr list and I will be interested to see how the character in this novel compares to the actual person. It may be pretty close as Murphy cites that biography as one of his sources. 

I liked this book and will read the other 2 books in this series if I can find them. I am counting this book toward the Cruisin' Through the Cozies challenge as my "historical mystery."