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Chip Harrison #4
The Topless Tulip Caper
Edgar Award-winning author Lawrence Block returns with another outrageous caper featuring Chip Harrison...a sleuth who always seems to get into trouble with a capital T! Now a man about town working for a famous detective, Chip Harrison finds himself at a Times Square Club waiting for his latest client, a stripper, to finish a night's work. When she completes her set, she introduces him to her roommate, a dancer who's targeted for murder...and killed in the club right before their very eyes! The list of suspects is as long as the line outside the club, and now it will take all of Chip's street smarts to trap a killer!
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1975
15 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
761 books3,001 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 27, 2019
When a stripper hires Leo Haig to find out who killed her fish, Chip Harrison finds himself at a strip club when another of the dancers is killed. Are the killings linked? Can Leo Haig find out who is behind them before Chip Harrison winds up in the soup?
The Topless Tulip Caper is from Lawrence Block's earlier, hornier period. I learned about it from his books about writing years ago and it has been under the back seat of my car for at least a couple years. Fortunately, I needed a book in a hurry and I was able to rescue it and read the first half in the waiting room while my wife was at her eye doctor appointment.
Leon Haig and Chip Harrison are Lawrence Block's homage to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, only Haig is into fish instead of orchids and Chip is a walking hard-on who sells their adventures to Gold Medal.
Chip is Leo's leg man and in this adventure, makes numerous visits to a strip club. Tulip Willing's fish die and her roommate and fellow dancer, Cherry Bounce, meets the reaper as well. Chip employs the classic GOYAKOD method: Get Off Your Ass and Knock On Doors. There's some humor, some smut, and lots of entertainment.
Even in the bygone age of 1975, Lawrence Block was a master of misdirection, more than capable of pulling the wool over my eyes 40+ years later. My wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said "I have no idea who killed this stripper's fish." I thought I had an inkling but had my theory shot down when that person didn't get invited to Leo Haig's big reveal party.
While it is by no means my favorite Lawrence Block book, The Topless Tulip Caper certainly made passing the time in the doctor's office go by faster and the rest was a great way to kill a couple hours on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The Topless Tulip Caper is from Lawrence Block's earlier, hornier period. I learned about it from his books about writing years ago and it has been under the back seat of my car for at least a couple years. Fortunately, I needed a book in a hurry and I was able to rescue it and read the first half in the waiting room while my wife was at her eye doctor appointment.
Leon Haig and Chip Harrison are Lawrence Block's homage to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, only Haig is into fish instead of orchids and Chip is a walking hard-on who sells their adventures to Gold Medal.
Chip is Leo's leg man and in this adventure, makes numerous visits to a strip club. Tulip Willing's fish die and her roommate and fellow dancer, Cherry Bounce, meets the reaper as well. Chip employs the classic GOYAKOD method: Get Off Your Ass and Knock On Doors. There's some humor, some smut, and lots of entertainment.
Even in the bygone age of 1975, Lawrence Block was a master of misdirection, more than capable of pulling the wool over my eyes 40+ years later. My wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said "I have no idea who killed this stripper's fish." I thought I had an inkling but had my theory shot down when that person didn't get invited to Leo Haig's big reveal party.
While it is by no means my favorite Lawrence Block book, The Topless Tulip Caper certainly made passing the time in the doctor's office go by faster and the rest was a great way to kill a couple hours on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
February 4, 2014
Part Nero Wolfe (sidekick is Archie) and part Sherlock Holmes (sidekick Dr. Watson) this is a series with Leo Haig as the 'at home' detective and Chip Harrison as his sidekick, his own Archie, his own Dr. Watson. I think Lawrence Block is playing with us, his readers.
It's said Enjoy the ride...the journey is as important as the destination. Well, this journey was more fun than the destination. The ending was ok, fine but I surely enjoyed the journey better.
Block once again shows his unending talent to create a story with a nod to already established great duos. Light-hearted and fun loving sidekick Chip Harrison makes this ride a light and laughable one.
Leo Haig, who raises tropical fish, (Wolfe grew orchids) sends Chip to do his bidding to solve the unsolvable. And Chip writes about the solved mysteries with published novels but his publisher says "your books have to have more sex to sell."
Chip obliges in the sex department with gusto at every opportunity which arises; sometimes more gusto than others and he uses these opportunities which sometimes fall in his lap...in his books.
I want to read (or listen to) the first in the series. This one was just short (five and a half hours) so I grabbed it.
It's said Enjoy the ride...the journey is as important as the destination. Well, this journey was more fun than the destination. The ending was ok, fine but I surely enjoyed the journey better.
Block once again shows his unending talent to create a story with a nod to already established great duos. Light-hearted and fun loving sidekick Chip Harrison makes this ride a light and laughable one.
Leo Haig, who raises tropical fish, (Wolfe grew orchids) sends Chip to do his bidding to solve the unsolvable. And Chip writes about the solved mysteries with published novels but his publisher says "your books have to have more sex to sell."
Chip obliges in the sex department with gusto at every opportunity which arises; sometimes more gusto than others and he uses these opportunities which sometimes fall in his lap...in his books.
I want to read (or listen to) the first in the series. This one was just short (five and a half hours) so I grabbed it.
July 1, 2024
Lawrence Block wrote four Chip Harrison novels and original gave the byline to them as Chip Harrison himself. The first two novels in the series, as Block himself explains in his afterword, were light-hearted sexy novels and the second two are deductive mystery noels where Chip finds himself working for Leo Haig, who fancies himself Nero Wolfe and that, of course, makes Chip himself a sort-of stand-in for Archie. There are also other shout-outs to mystery authors throughout the book such as Bill Pronzini as well as asides to Gold Medal Books, explaining that the sex scenes randomly thrown in were to please Block’s editors.
The Topless Tulip Caper (1975) is a solid mystery tale although there are more than a few tongue-in-cheek bits thrown in like the opening where Chip meets their client, the erstwhile named Tulip Willing, at her place of business, a topless bottomless dance club, Treasure Chest, where she can make more in a night than she can in a month as a marine biologist, fancy degree and all. The humor is in Chip being carded at the 21-and-over nude club and then further humor where his client,Tulip, the main act, tells him that there were 123 homicides of the fishes in her aquarium. Of course, wide-eyed young Chip is star-struck when he sees Tulip’s full stage act, bumping her behind an strutting around on those long legs that seemed to go all the way up to her neck.
Of course, it all ceases being funny when Tulip Willing’s roommate, Cherry Bounce, takes the stage and is murdered right in front of the entire assemblage who in a minute go from being spellbound to trying like hell to get out of there before the papers report who was there that night. Cherry was the 124th victim and it had happened right in front of Chip’s eyes. One suspect was Glenn Flatt, Tulip’s ex-husband and Chip, who is narrating, tells us that no one built like Tulip could be happy with Flatt for a surname.
Chip goes and interviews one by one his entire list or a dozen or so suspects and, in the end, we get a full drawing room scene where Nero Wolfe style, Leo Haig reveals the killer to a roomfull of witnesses all of whom were sort of suspects. The story is half tongue-in-cheek but is fully an entire tale paying homage to the mystery novel and reveling in it.
The Topless Tulip Caper (1975) is a solid mystery tale although there are more than a few tongue-in-cheek bits thrown in like the opening where Chip meets their client, the erstwhile named Tulip Willing, at her place of business, a topless bottomless dance club, Treasure Chest, where she can make more in a night than she can in a month as a marine biologist, fancy degree and all. The humor is in Chip being carded at the 21-and-over nude club and then further humor where his client,Tulip, the main act, tells him that there were 123 homicides of the fishes in her aquarium. Of course, wide-eyed young Chip is star-struck when he sees Tulip’s full stage act, bumping her behind an strutting around on those long legs that seemed to go all the way up to her neck.
Of course, it all ceases being funny when Tulip Willing’s roommate, Cherry Bounce, takes the stage and is murdered right in front of the entire assemblage who in a minute go from being spellbound to trying like hell to get out of there before the papers report who was there that night. Cherry was the 124th victim and it had happened right in front of Chip’s eyes. One suspect was Glenn Flatt, Tulip’s ex-husband and Chip, who is narrating, tells us that no one built like Tulip could be happy with Flatt for a surname.
Chip goes and interviews one by one his entire list or a dozen or so suspects and, in the end, we get a full drawing room scene where Nero Wolfe style, Leo Haig reveals the killer to a roomfull of witnesses all of whom were sort of suspects. The story is half tongue-in-cheek but is fully an entire tale paying homage to the mystery novel and reveling in it.
August 4, 2015
slight Nero Wolfe parody w/oversexed Archie Goodwin stand-in.
March 12, 2014
With the fourth, and final, Chip Harrison novel, The Topless Tulip Caper (1975) Lawrence Block pulls off a very entertaining Nero Wolfe pastiche. Chip Harrison makes a very satisfactory Archie Goodwin and Block provides a satisfactory Nero Wolfe in Leo Haig.
In an interview with Ethan Iverson on Do the Math, Block explains:
"The first two [Chip Harrison books], of course, are sort of young man coming of age novels, and the only way they could be a series was if he changed somewhat, because you couldn’t have the same person coming of age forever. So, I put him to work for a Nero Wolfe wannabe and that was fun. But again, it was essentially a one trick pony, and two books and a couple of short stories was plenty."
David Vineyard, in "Fifty Funny Felonies + Fifty More" on Mystery*File says, The Topless Tulip Caper "is also cheerfully dirty minded without a smirk or a snicker -- a rarity in any American fiction."
Set for the most part in a strip club called the Treasure Chest, one would think that that would be sex appeal enough for any reader but as Block writes in his memoir, Afterthoughts:
"Joe Elder, whom I'd known back in the Scott Meredith days, was Chip's editor. At some point after he'd agreed to publish Make Out With Murder, I went in to meet Joe, who hadn't know who was lurking behind Chip Harrison's name.
"He agreed that a fourth book would work out all right, and I went home to write it. I'd already made Haig an avid aquarist, with tropical fish serving him as orchids served Nero Wolfe. And, happily enough, I knew something about tropical fish.
"When I delivered the book, Joe had a complaint I'd rarely heard in many years in the world of paperback fiction.
""There's not enough sex," he said.
"In response, I went through the book page by page until I could find a place where I could wedge in a sex scene. And Chip, after recounting it in some detail, apologizes for it as having not much to do with the book; he explains that his editor, Joe Elder, insisted he augment the book's sexual content. So, although the incident really did take place, Chip thinks it's gratuitous, and rather hopes Mr. Elder will change his mind and take it out again."
Four daggers out of four.
In an interview with Ethan Iverson on Do the Math, Block explains:
"The first two [Chip Harrison books], of course, are sort of young man coming of age novels, and the only way they could be a series was if he changed somewhat, because you couldn’t have the same person coming of age forever. So, I put him to work for a Nero Wolfe wannabe and that was fun. But again, it was essentially a one trick pony, and two books and a couple of short stories was plenty."
David Vineyard, in "Fifty Funny Felonies + Fifty More" on Mystery*File says, The Topless Tulip Caper "is also cheerfully dirty minded without a smirk or a snicker -- a rarity in any American fiction."
Set for the most part in a strip club called the Treasure Chest, one would think that that would be sex appeal enough for any reader but as Block writes in his memoir, Afterthoughts:
"Joe Elder, whom I'd known back in the Scott Meredith days, was Chip's editor. At some point after he'd agreed to publish Make Out With Murder, I went in to meet Joe, who hadn't know who was lurking behind Chip Harrison's name.
"He agreed that a fourth book would work out all right, and I went home to write it. I'd already made Haig an avid aquarist, with tropical fish serving him as orchids served Nero Wolfe. And, happily enough, I knew something about tropical fish.
"When I delivered the book, Joe had a complaint I'd rarely heard in many years in the world of paperback fiction.
""There's not enough sex," he said.
"In response, I went through the book page by page until I could find a place where I could wedge in a sex scene. And Chip, after recounting it in some detail, apologizes for it as having not much to do with the book; he explains that his editor, Joe Elder, insisted he augment the book's sexual content. So, although the incident really did take place, Chip thinks it's gratuitous, and rather hopes Mr. Elder will change his mind and take it out again."
Four daggers out of four.
June 10, 2025
I figured it would be daft but fine. It was daft but sexist and dated nonsense. Avoid.
March 2, 2021
The 4th book in the Chip Harrison series, and the 2nd one to truly be a mystery story.(the 1st two are just about Chip's misadventures and sex life)
Chip now works with detective Leo Haig.
(Think Nero Wolfe)
When a topless dancer, Tulip Willing seeks his help to find out who killed her tropical fish, they take the case.
Soon, Tulip's roommate is murdered, and Chip is on the case.
A fun, quick read. The sex from the 1st two books is cut way down, but there is still a few instances of it here.
Chip now works with detective Leo Haig.
(Think Nero Wolfe)
When a topless dancer, Tulip Willing seeks his help to find out who killed her tropical fish, they take the case.
Soon, Tulip's roommate is murdered, and Chip is on the case.
A fun, quick read. The sex from the 1st two books is cut way down, but there is still a few instances of it here.
January 7, 2025
A rather lame conclusion to the Chip Harrison novels. The mystery of dead fish and a stripper! Need I say more!!
September 1, 2013
This is my first Lawrence Block novel, and I really enjoyed it. It was a light read featuring Chip, assistant to a Nero Wolfe-like detective, Leon Haig. The two men set out to help Tulip Willing, a topless dancer, discover who poisoned her exotic fish. Human murders follow, and all is lost until Haig calls all the suspects together and sorts the crime.
Fast paced, funny dialogue, an easy read. I'll check out more Lawrence Block after this one!
Fast paced, funny dialogue, an easy read. I'll check out more Lawrence Block after this one!
June 8, 2016
Good plot, like able cast.It's Lawrence Block & it'd been awhile so I forgot...lots of sex references. Still good plots and cast ...
August 22, 2023
The short Chip Harrison series combines porn, humor and mystery. It does an ok job. Don't know why it didn't continue. I should correct myself and say that the first two only had porn and humor. The last 2 books in the series have all 3.
A stripper named Tulip comes to see Leo Haig because her fish tank and been poisoned with strychnine and all of the fish in are dead. While investigating her case, Chip visits the club she works at and her roommate and fellow stripper Cherry dies on stage, poisoned by curare.
Chip and Leo come up with a list of suspects which include people who work with Tulip and Cherry and people in their personal lives. During the investigation, one of the suspects, a man named Mallard was also killed.
The plot formula is the same. Chip questions all the suspects and have sex with some of the women. He relays his findings to Leo Haig who calls all the suspects into his office where he reveals the killer from the 1 or 2 mistakes that the killer makes.
As a light read it's ok. There isn't a lot of suspense but Block does the other two things fairly well (humor and porn). He made the plot unnecessarily complex, so that 2 days after reading it I can't remember the motive of the killer. But apart from that, the characters are likeable if stereotype. The writing is pretty typical Lawrence Block. I've rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 5.
A stripper named Tulip comes to see Leo Haig because her fish tank and been poisoned with strychnine and all of the fish in are dead. While investigating her case, Chip visits the club she works at and her roommate and fellow stripper Cherry dies on stage, poisoned by curare.
Chip and Leo come up with a list of suspects which include people who work with Tulip and Cherry and people in their personal lives. During the investigation, one of the suspects, a man named Mallard was also killed.
The plot formula is the same. Chip questions all the suspects and have sex with some of the women. He relays his findings to Leo Haig who calls all the suspects into his office where he reveals the killer from the 1 or 2 mistakes that the killer makes.
As a light read it's ok. There isn't a lot of suspense but Block does the other two things fairly well (humor and porn). He made the plot unnecessarily complex, so that 2 days after reading it I can't remember the motive of the killer. But apart from that, the characters are likeable if stereotype. The writing is pretty typical Lawrence Block. I've rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 5.
June 23, 2020
Obviously, this book/series is meant as a Nero Wolf spoof. This is book four of a six-book series; I thought it was flat and not too interesting. Recently, I read one of Lawrence Block's books from his Classic Crime Library. Now that was great reading; this book, not so much.
Chip Harrison has a raging libido and a job working for a famous detective, Leo Haig. Chip spent half his time thinking about and going to bed with various women who troll past him. He also takes copious notes about his investigations (leaving out the more salacious bits) for his employer. Haig is an uninteresting detective who gets his clues from clueless Chip. I did not understand the setup before reading this book. Otherwise, I would have just read Nero Wolf. After tasting this sample of Chip Harrison's series, I'll just pass it by.
Chip Harrison has a raging libido and a job working for a famous detective, Leo Haig. Chip spent half his time thinking about and going to bed with various women who troll past him. He also takes copious notes about his investigations (leaving out the more salacious bits) for his employer. Haig is an uninteresting detective who gets his clues from clueless Chip. I did not understand the setup before reading this book. Otherwise, I would have just read Nero Wolf. After tasting this sample of Chip Harrison's series, I'll just pass it by.
February 16, 2018
Leo Haig is the detective who doesn’t like to go out much, so he sends his assistant Chip.
Exotic dancer Tulip wants to know who poisoned her fish. While Chip is at the club she works at, her flatmate Cherry is murdered onstage. Cherry might have been a suspect but Tulip didn’t kill her. Chip was right there to witness it.
***
After a bleak book I switched it up by choosing pulp fiction circa 1975 so it’s about as sexist as you thought it’d be. It’s also kind of self aware. Block’s narrator Chip lampshades the fact that he has been told by his editor to add in more sex. It improves Pulp sales, doncha know.
Chip eagerly obliges.
It also owes a lot to Nero Wolfe, Holmes, and Poirot. And it knows it and does it with a wink.
Classic pulp
3 stars
Exotic dancer Tulip wants to know who poisoned her fish. While Chip is at the club she works at, her flatmate Cherry is murdered onstage. Cherry might have been a suspect but Tulip didn’t kill her. Chip was right there to witness it.
***
After a bleak book I switched it up by choosing pulp fiction circa 1975 so it’s about as sexist as you thought it’d be. It’s also kind of self aware. Block’s narrator Chip lampshades the fact that he has been told by his editor to add in more sex. It improves Pulp sales, doncha know.
Chip eagerly obliges.
It also owes a lot to Nero Wolfe, Holmes, and Poirot. And it knows it and does it with a wink.
Classic pulp
3 stars
December 13, 2022
Billed as a thriller - I didn’t find much tension in it. Got a bit confused with the cast of characters- but that’s a feature of whodunnit’s. The chief protagonist is supposed to be writing the account and supposedly pops in the two sex scenes to increase sales etc. and that’s exactly how they seem gratuitous…
Didn’t really feel New York either. Oh dear, I’ll stop - just not really my taste.
Didn’t really feel New York either. Oh dear, I’ll stop - just not really my taste.
June 10, 2017
This is the fourth entree in the Chip Harrison Series. In this book, Chip along with his tropical fish loving boss Leo Haig catch a murderer with a theatrical farce as done by Nero Wolfe. The book is a terrific oastiche of the Rex Stout books and was sexy fun
October 9, 2023
After enjoying the first two Chip Harrison books, and being dissatisfied with the third book, I have completed the series with the Topless Tulip Caper. Moments of entertainment, and the motivation to read some Rex Stout.
July 4, 2018
6.5/10
262 pages
262 pages
November 14, 2018
Fourth in the series of Chip Harrison novels.
Here, Harrison looks in to the murder of a stripper. Crime, humour and sex make for an enjoyable novel. Stylishly written.
Here, Harrison looks in to the murder of a stripper. Crime, humour and sex make for an enjoyable novel. Stylishly written.
December 11, 2019
Once Chip Harrison becomes a detective working for Leo Haig, the series starts to play itself out a bit, Although it was still great reading.
August 8, 2024
A fast paced, humorous read, highly recommended for non-prudish Nero Wolfe fans. Fun throughout.
May 5, 2025
Great fun. Self consciously emulating the Nero Wolfe stories but with a lot more sex and snark. Good plot. Funny and enjoyable.
August 6, 2012
#4 is the final entry in the 1970s Chip Harrison series. This private eye series is a sendup of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. Dated, but a quick, fun read.
Chip Harrison series - When a stripper is murdered onstage, Chip Harrison must put his sexual frustration aside to seek out the killer One hundred and twenty-three murders gets Chip Harrison’s attention—that and the girl who reports them: a statuesque stripper and amateur ichthyologist who wants help catching the killer of her 123 rare fish. The 124th victim—this time a human—draws Chip and his mentor, Leo Haig, into a world of dressing rooms and easy death, where the poison kills quickly and the best clues are found between the sheets.
Chip Harrison series - When a stripper is murdered onstage, Chip Harrison must put his sexual frustration aside to seek out the killer One hundred and twenty-three murders gets Chip Harrison’s attention—that and the girl who reports them: a statuesque stripper and amateur ichthyologist who wants help catching the killer of her 123 rare fish. The 124th victim—this time a human—draws Chip and his mentor, Leo Haig, into a world of dressing rooms and easy death, where the poison kills quickly and the best clues are found between the sheets.
May 2, 2020
Maybe i shouldnt have read book 4 in this series first but I wanted a taste of comic detective story by the great Lawrence Block. Thankfully Harrison series is very stand alone this story was very witty take on the classic Nero Wolfe type detective from the POV ofhis sidekick a young, horny detective. Block is a master of making fun of this kind of story, sometimes it was like serious NYC PI story, other times it was cheeky, funny.
Also liked how Block teased his editors early ones in his career, the young detective hero was often thinking about if there was enough sex to sell the case as a book later. A nice reminder of why I rate Block so highly to have bought most of his other book series that isn't Matt Scudder books that made me a big fan.
Also liked how Block teased his editors early ones in his career, the young detective hero was often thinking about if there was enough sex to sell the case as a book later. A nice reminder of why I rate Block so highly to have bought most of his other book series that isn't Matt Scudder books that made me a big fan.
March 25, 2012
Block successfully retains the tongue-in-cheek, wise-cracking tone of the original Chip Harrison adventure (NO SCORE) while also inserting a credible, inventive whodunnit mystery. The Leo Haig character is a Nero Wolfe pastiche, a device cheerfully highlighted by the fact that Leo constantly compares himself to Wolfe. Since this book was originally published under the pseudonym Chip Harrison, Block also includes a several self-referential jokes, such as Chip's editor encouraging him to insert gratuitous sex scenes into the story to help boost sales. (Chip the narrator cheerfully obliges). It's a fast, funny book that doesn't take itself too seriously.
October 12, 2015
It pains me a little to give a Lawrence Block anything less than a top rating because I've always loved his books so much. This one, though, while enjoyable, just didn't catch me as much as some others. I like the characters of Chip Harrison and his boss, but I suppose I unavoidably compare them to Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe (which of course I'm supposed to do) and they just don't quite make it. Still, the writing is good, the plot interesting, and I'd read more about these characters. I listened to it all in one day while I cleaned the house, and it definitely worked for that! Just didn't love it.
June 23, 2013
I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 since this was written in 1975. Lawrence Block's books are much improved since 1975. Remind me to stay away from the earlier books. I stuck with it because I have enjoyed every other Lawrence Block book that I have read, but this was my first in the Chip Harrison series. I'll never get those hours back.
January 19, 2014
Private eye Chip Harrison is hired to discover who killed a tankful of tropical fish owned by Tulip Willing, an exotic dancer at the Treasure Chest. When her roommate is killed onstage and Chip is a witness, things get complicated. This is Block's homage to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries, except that Chip gets a lot more sex than Archie ever did.
February 19, 2014
This is a cozy mystery--Lawrence Block style, which means the murder takes place at a topless club. So basically if you like Nero Wolfe or other cozy mysteries and also some mild (by today's standards) sex talk, then here you go. While I'm not a big fan of cozy mysteries I enjoyed it and like most of Block's books it's a short, fun read.
Want to read
September 28, 2009AKA: Sheldon Lord, Jill Emerson, Paul Kavanaugh, Chip Harrison, Lawrence Block
February 25, 2019
Another entertaining Chip tale
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