This - is murder!

by Cortland Fitzsimmons

A murder is committed aboard a yacht, whose guests include a gossip columnist and a number of stars and studio executives.

Possibly based on the murder of Thomas H. Ince.

292 pages, Hardcover

First published July 23, 2015

About the author

Mystery writer and screenwriter Cortland Fitzsimmons was born on 19 June, 1893 in Richmond Hills, a middle class Long Island neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. He was the only child of Mattie Greensword Fitzsimmons. By 1910 his mother was a widow and the two were living in Brooklyn with a boarder named Charles Williams. Interestingly, Williams was a book seller, the same profession Cortland would follow after college. Cortland received his higher education at New York University and City College. Before turning to writing full time in 1934, he had been a successful salesman for book distributor Baker and Taylor and the American News Co. and later sales manager for Viking Press.

Cortland is primarily remembered as a mystery writer. In 1946 he collaborated with his wife, the former Muriel Simpson, on a cookbook entitled "You Can Cook If You Can Read".

Cortland Fitzsimmons died in Los Angeles on 25 July, 1949 at the age of 56. He was survived by his widow Muriel, who would follow him in death in 1957 at the age of 63.

Reviews

[Anna Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This- is Murder! belongs firmly in the classic mystery sub-genre of 'comic murder' or 'murder mystery humor.' Yes, there is a murder, but everything except the actual death reads like a screwball movie- perhaps unsurprisingly, since the victim, amateur detective, and all suspects are linked to Hollywood in some way or other. Mystery novelist/screenwriter Dean Mallory is relaxing on his cruiser anchored off Catalina Island when he- and his Peke Shanghai- are reluctantly dragged into a party on a neighboring yacht by his love interest Vicky Blaire. Vicky's nervous and thinks things feel off, and before long a publicity stunt involving diving for (fake) rubies thrown overboard by a (fake) Rajah results in a dead starlet and a boat full of suspects hemmed in by impenetrable fog. Mallory is pressed into detective service, Shanghai gets drunk, and Vicky serves as an able sidekick through a series of improbable events and further acts of attempted violence. True to form, none of the Hollywood notables on board are remotely who they seam to be, and all have reason to resent the beautiful dead woman. There's plenty of witty wordplay and madcap escapades, along with a bit of the usual bigotry typical of the period. Light and fun.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite good fun in its own way.
The exotic film star Zara is murdered while engaged in a publicity stunt on board a producer's yacht.

Fortunately a screenwriter and author of crime fiction is available to investigate the passengers and their possible motives while the boat is trapped in the fog.

First published in 1941, this is rather good quality pulp fiction.

3.5 stars.