Double Indignity

Rex Koko, Private Clown #2

by James Finn Garner

In the follow-up to the award-winning Honk Honk, My Darling, NYT best-selling author James Finn Garner (Politically Correct Bedtime Stories) returns to the restless streets of Top Town, a ghetto full of circus has-beens and never-wases, and the stomping grounds of that Sam Spade in Whiteface, Rex Koko.


In this thrilling clown noir caper, Rex Koko is asked to bring in a rogue lion and has his expensive shoes chewed up in the process. While trying to be repaid for them, Rex runs afoul of drug-pushing quacks, alligator hypnotists, Amazonian witch doctors, infantile mobsters and blue-nosed moral crusaders. Before the second act, menace fills the Top Town air like the smells of popcorn, whiskey and fear. The South American jungle was never so dangerous as the tawdry streets of Top Town, "the next best thing to a good time."


It's three rings of danger, suspense and more danger. As e.e. cummings said, "Damn everything, but the circus!"

ebook

First published June 8, 2014

About the author

James Finn Garner is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago.[1] He is the author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories,[2] Tea Party Fairy Tales, and Honk Honk, My Darling.

Reviews

[Patricia Bergman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a signed copy of this crazy noir through Goodreads. It was difficult to rate this one as it is probably the strangest book I have ever read. A collection of circus clowns, lion tamers, and local nuts participate in some clever and funny antics as a satirical sort of Mike Hammer mystery. I am passing this on to a friend because I want a second opinion.

[Rhonda Siserir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read any type of "noir" book, so I did not know what to expect. Clown Noir sounded unique and interesting to me. So when I received this book through Goodreads Giveaways, I was pretty tickled. This book drew me into it's pages with strange characters, strange places and ok - big cats. Rex was a stud, which is saying a lot for a man with size 42 shoes and a red nose. His runaway mouth constantly got him into trouble. He was extremely creative in his attempts to keep his foot shod :) Loved the quips, especially the part where he lit a camel - you just have to read the book ... This was a fun book, but if you delve deeper into it, you will see another story about social classes. You see a battle between the have and have-nots, the powerful and the powerless, and you see how the characters internalize the stereotypes that pervade their society. Sorry, Psych teacher here. Anyway, loved it!!!

[Puzzle Doctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely bananas and loads of fun. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a signed copy of this book in a giveaway through Goodreas. I loved this book! It is fun, funny, exciting, well written, has awesome characters. I have nothing bad to say about this book.

[Christopher Gerrib · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second outing for Rex Koko, private clown / private eye. He's better as a clown then a detective, which isn't saying much. Like the first book in the series, WWII is still going on although winding down, and Rex Koko is broke and frequently drunk.

In this outing, he is tasked to recover a missing lion for a lion-tamer. Fortunately for Rex's health, the lion is old and feeble, allowing Rex to survive with just a missing shoe. Unfortunately, the lion-tamer and his fiery wife prove much more complicated. Hilarity ensues, in this case literally.

The author here does a magnificent job of sending up the old hard-boiled novels while clearly loving them. He does lay the circus lingo on a bit thick at times, but includes a helpful glossary at the end. Nicely done.

[Megan McCarthy-Biank · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the second installment of the Rex Koko, Private Clown series, Rex gets involved with a crew of big cat tamers from South America. After attending a show, one of the cats escapes and the tamer’s wife asks Rex to track him down. While Rex accomplishes this mission, he unfortunately loses a shoe in the process. His size 42s aren’t easy to replace, so as he attempts to get reimbursed for this loss, he gets more than he bargained for along the way.

Read my full review of the Rex Koko series (including Honk, Honk, My Darling; Double Indignity, and The Wet Nose of Danger) at The Nerd Cantina:
https://thenerdcantina.com/rex-koko-p...

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex Koko, the main character in this inventive mystery, is a clown living in the world of the circus, complete with lions, lion tamers, and other colorful characters. One of the things I liked best about the book was that it took me away to a world very different from the one I live in, so different that I was thankful for the glossary of circus jargon. Although not your typical mystery, it was an entertaining good read. I received a free review copy of Double Indignity through Goodreads First Reads.