High Jinx

by Donald E. Westlake, Abby Westlake, Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

A mystery game includes the basic plot, profiles of each suspect, an outline for questioning, and the solution of the murder

Genres: Mystery

121 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.

Some of the pseudonyms he used include
•   Richard Stark
•   Timothy J. Culver
•   Tucker Coe
•   Curt Clark
•   J. Morgan Cunningham
•   Judson Jack Carmichael
•   D.E. Westlake
•   Donald I. Vestlejk
•   Don Westlake

Reviews

[Reed]

I picked this book for the cover.

After reading Jhumpa Lahiri's The Clothing of Books, I was exposed to Edward Gorey. She mentioned how she picks up any book with and Edward Gorey cover when she visits used bookstores. So I decided to follow her advice when I visited South Congress Books in Austin, TX last month. The book itself is a deconstructed mystery. Basic premise, characters, and the big reveal (Truth) are literally all separated from one another. The reason is that this book attempts to share the real experience of visiting the Mohonk hotel in New York where guests play a whodunnit game with actors. The writing itself is nothing special. However, the deconstruction, the cover, brevity (116 pages), and the focus on the historical Schleswig-Holstein Question (it's a real historical question about a ruler conflict b/t Denmark and Germany) all made this a worthwhile and enjoyable adventure for me. It also gave me some thoughts for how to incorporate these methods into learning exercises for students.

[David Macpherson]

I was worried that this would be like reading roll playing game instructiuons, but it is created like a book, just an obtuse one. There is a murder and people play their rolls. The cool part is that every character gets their own 5 page monologue. I didn't get the solution on my own, not one bit of it, but it still was fun. And Westlake is a good writer, let's not forget that.

[Roberta]

High Jinx is not a mystery novel, it is sort of a 121-page print souvenir version of one of the Mohonk Mountain House-sponsored mystery role-playing weekends run by Donald Westlake and his wife Abby. These mystery weekends were always booked solid within hours of the opening of reservations and this book is the closest that most of us ever got to attending one of these exclusive soirées.

The cover art for the book is by Edward Gorey and the introduction is by Martin Cruz Smith, who was also a guest speaker that weekend. The book starts out with a narration that sets up the murder followed by speeches given by each of the characters explaining how they came to be at the fictional Hotel Kluckkuckuhr in Switzerland in 1938. There are also some poor photographs of the actors in character. The book ends with a quiz so that the reader will know if he is Sherlock Holmes (150 points) or Inspector Clouzot (45 points). Others in this series are: Transylvania Station; The Hood House Heist; Double Crossing; Way Out, West; and The Maltese Herring.

[Marcie]

I selected this book because the front cover artwork is by one of my favorite authors and illustrators, Edward Gorey. In addition, the artwork also features Joe Servello's talents. Mr. Servello is a local author and illustrator. Reading the book, I learned about NY's Mohonk Mountain House, the birthplace of murder mystery theater. The book details High Jinx, a murder mystery that was created by Donald and Abby Westlake for a Mohonk Mystery Weekend. The book is divided into four sections: The Narration, The Suspect Biographies, The Quiz, and The Truth. These sections take the reader through a written adaptation of the weekend, and it is the reader's goal to solve the mystery as it was the participants' goal during the actual weekend.

[Wyntrnoire]

Not a novel but a lot of fun.