Louise Brooks: Detective

by Rick Geary

A fictional story centered on actress Louise Brooks, this graphic novel by Rick Geary is spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress who popularized bangs. Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction, Comix

80 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

RICK GEARY was born in 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Wichita,
Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his first cartoons were published in the University Daily Kansan. He worked as staff artist for two weekly papers in Wichita before moving to San Diego in 1975.

He began work in comics in 1977 and was for thirteen years a contributor to the Funny Pages of National Lampoon. His comic stories have also been published in Heavy Metal, Dark Horse Comics and the DC Comics/Paradox Press Big Books. His early comic work has been collected in Housebound with Rick Geary from Fantagraphics Books.

During a four-year stay in New York, his illustrations appeared regularly in The New York Times Book Review. His illustration work has also been seen in MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and American Libraries.

He has written and illustrated three children’s books based on The Mask for Dark Horse and two Spider-Man children's books for Marvel. His children’s comic “Society of Horrors” ran in Disney Adventures magazine. He was the artist for the new series of GUMBY Comics, written by Bob Burden, for which they received the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience.

His graphic novels include three adaptations for the Classics Illustrated, and the nine-volume series A Treasury of Victorian Murder for NBM Publishing. The new series A Treasury of 20th Century Murder began in 2008 with “The Lindbergh Child.” His other historically-based graphic novels include Cravan, written with Mike Richardson, and J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.

Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980) and the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994).

He and his wife Deborah can be found every year at their table at San Diego’s Comic Con International. In 2007, they moved to the town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.

(from http://www.rickgeary.com/bio.html)

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rick Geary takes a break from his brilliant Treasury of Victorian/20th Century Murders series for a work of fiction starring the real-life Golden Age of Hollywood actress, Louise Brooks. Brooks was more famous for popularising the bob haircut than her acting though she had some movie success in the 1930s. However by 1940, when this comic begins, she’d done some European films and returned to find Hollywood was no longer interested in her.

So Brooks went back to her parents’ home in Wichita, Kansas, while she figured out her next move. Aimless, she opened a dance studio but couldn’t make it work, and then decided to write screenplays instead. Up to now, this is actually the real life story of Louise Brooks – and now the fiction begins. Realising a retired famous (and made up) playwright, Thurgood Ellis, lives nearby, she sets out to get some writing advice from him and becomes embroiled in a case of murder most foul!

Geary’s last fictional sleuth comics, The Adventures of Blanche, were excellent for blending Lovecraftian horror into crime, in tightly constructed stories. Louise Brooks: Detective is a decent book but I wasn’t as enthralled with the story as I usually am with Geary’s work – I tend to read his Treasury books in a single sitting and I finished this one in three.

It takes a while, roughly a third of the book, before the actual murder mystery appears – up until then we’re getting to know our heroine, someone Geary clearly has affection for but isn’t doing anything especially interesting. And while Geary is well versed in relating forgotten crime cases in a fresh and compelling way, the one of his own invention is a little convoluted and not as exciting as the real life ones. I almost would’ve preferred if Geary had just done a bio on Brooks instead (she led an interesting life, at one point becoming a high class courtesan and allegedly had an affair with Greta Garbo)!

It’s a minor point too but I noticed more than a few typos which was sloppy for a 80 page comic and especially from Geary who’s a very experienced cartoonist. The black and white art is quality Geary as usual.

Fans of this cartoonist are going to read it anyway as we wait for the next Treasury instalment, but, unlike those volumes, I wouldn’t say Louise Brooks: Detective is a must-read for crime comics fans. It’s a quirky premise that has its moments but overall it’s a bit weakly realised and forgettable.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mit LOUISE BROOKS, DETECTIVE legt Rick Geary, der eine ganze Reihe von True-Crime-Graphic Novels geschrieben hat, einen fiktiven Krimi vor.

Die Schauspielerin und Stil-Ikone Louise Brooks kehrt zu ihren Eltern ins ländliche Kansas zurück, nachdem ihre Hollywood-Karriere und zwei Ehen gescheitert sind. Die Kleinstadt Wichita und das Leben mit ihren Eltern unter einem Dach bedrücken Louise Brooks nicht wenig. Dieses Setting beruht bis hierher auf Tatsachen.

In Wichita ist es zu einem mysteriösen "locked room" Mordfall gekommen, den Louise Brooks gerne im Stile von Poes Detektiv Dupin durch Deduktion lösen möchte. Allerdings bedarf es fast zweier Jahre und weiterer Ereignisse, bis sie auf diesen Fall zurück kommen und sich an die Lösung machen kann.

Gearys Zeichnungen wirken sehr statisch und Personen gelingen ihm nicht besonders gut, so dass die Artwork leider nicht punkten kann.
Warum er sich für diesen fiktiven Krimi ausgerechnet Louise Brooks als Heldin auserkoren hat, ist mir nicht klar geworden. Es hätte auch eine x-beliebige andere Person sein können und wieder einmal drängt sich der Verdacht auf, dass ein großer Name im Titel sich schlichtweg verkaufsfördernd auswirken soll.
Der Kriminalfall selbst ist nicht sehr spannend erzählt und löst sich schließlich am Ende auf, indem die "Detektivin" Louise den Täter mit ihren Deduktionen konfrontiert.

Fazit: Ich bin einmal mehr hereingefallen und habe ein Buch gekauft, weil mich die titelgebende Hauptperson interessiert hat. Bekommen habe ich eine Krimi-Graphic Novel mit mittelprächtiger Artwork und ebensolcher Handlung, die mich nicht mitreissen konnte.
Schwache drei Sterne.

[Derek Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story-wise, and on the level of narrative premise, this has to be about the strongest comic I've read this year so far. And of course the art is very strong, as well, but it's the story idea that has me so amazed. I'm a fan of Geary's murder/crime comics -- and his work in a broader way -- but this is a unique twist on the genre. I'd go as far as to call it an alternate history, of sorts. I'd be amazed if this book weren't in my "Best of" list at the end of the year in some way.

We plan on interview Rick Geary on the podcast soon about this new release. I can't wait!

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Mr Geary's vignettes. Well crafted, strong, linear artwork combined with a fairly quick mystery made for a good read.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so used to Rick Geary books being true crime tales, and since this book features a young woman solving a murder, it has been hard to keep in mind that this is actually fiction! Louise Brooks is a real character, an actress popular in the late 1920s-early 1930s. In this fictionalized account of her life, Geary imagines her at age 33, moving back to her parents’ home in Wichita, Kansas. Where naturally she stumbles into a clever (though not clever enough!) murderer. I love Geary’s artwork so much that I will read anything he writes, but this is interesting enough to hold the attention of even not as dedicated fans.

[orangerful · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Geary tries his hand at historical FICTION and does a wonderful job! As usual, his story left me wanting to know more about the real Louise Brooks. But the mystery was a lot of fun too!

[Salamah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Rick Geary's work. His books never fail to entertain me and keep me enthralled. This story is fictional but he uses a real person named Louise Brooks who was an actress in the early 1900. Geary start's his story with Louise who has now moved back home with her parents much to her distress. However she ends up getting involved in a murder mystery. Wanting to become a writer after not having much success with her dance studio, Louise goes on an adventure to find Thurgood Ellis a writer who she wrote to many months before. Louise tire ends up blowing and she walks to the home of who she thinks is Thurgood Ellis. The police find a dead body but only Louise has figured out the truth about who killed who. I don't want to give too much away but this was a good, quick mystery story.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure what to make of this book. I like the story - it’s engaging and entertaining and I love the art. But I’m not really keen on the idea of taking a real person and making up a story about her. This is about the actress Louise Brooks - who I’ve never heard of. And I keep thinking if I come across her in the future, am I going to remember this story but not that it was fictionalized? I just don’t know if I like that format. Was there a point in choosing this particular actress? Couldn’t it just have been anyone? I love reading fiction and non-fiction, but life is confusing enough without mixing them together. I’m still giving this 4 stars because the art and story were so strong!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always admired Geary's linework, but this is the first book by him that I've read. Most of his stuff falls into the category of True Crime, which isn't a genre I enjoy, but this is full-blown fiction featuring one of my favorite actors as the detective. It's an engaging riddle and though I was a little disappointed with the solution itself, I was thrilled with the way it was revealed. Would love to see Geary create more Louise Brooks Mysteries.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Brooks was once an it girl. A talented and renowned dancer from the age of sixteen and when Hollywood came calling she answered. On the brink of stardom she recklessly failed to renew her contract with Paramount Pictures and took herself off to Germany. The film she made there with G.W. Pabst, Pandora's Box, became a classic of Weimar German cinema but was dismissed when it was first released due to it's frank depiction of sexuality. In 1930 she returned to Hollywood but it seemed that Tinseltown was no longer interested in a girl primarily known for the cut of her hair. In 1940, at the age of thirty-three, she made a "strategic retreat" back to Wichita, Kansas and the home of her parents. She didn't just view herself as a failure, her family did as well. She also lacked the skills to help out around the home. She just wished to disappear into the stories she loved to read in her room. The family wasn't about to let this happen. In the evenings they all listened to the radio. The city was transfixed by a sensational locked room murder. A wealthy widow had been stabbed. In her locked bedroom. The mystery had Louise itching to play detective. But real life was intruding. The times were lean. People came to the door begging for a scrap of food or an odd job. And that's what Louise needed. A job. She opened The Brooks-McCoy Dance Studio. Louise's name recognition was at least bringing customers through the door yet how long could that last? Soon the class sizes where dwindling and the writing was on the wall. Louise Brooks was a failure. Yet again. Soon she took a final, desperate step, into retail. It got her out of her parents house at least, which was usually only achieved when she went out to lunch with her friend Helen who would regale Louise with stories of her improbably named sweetheart, Walden Pond. Though Louise had a friend and a job her life was dispiriting. She decided something needed to be done. Why not become a writer? And she actually knew one, right outside Wichita to ask for advice! Thurgood Ellis and her corresponded back in the day when Louise was just starting out in New York City. He lived in Burden, just an hour's drive southeast. Louise decided to just drive there, and it turned out her friend Helen was also heading to Burden. She thought Walden was finally going to propose at Grouse Creek Falls. They set out separately but would soon be reunited by a police pursuit. As Helen and Walden had helped a man who repaid their kindness with cruelty. Walden is dead and Helen's hopes are dashed. But Louise can't help but think nothing adds up. It's all the details that are wrong. Will she be able to solve the crime or will she perish as Walden did, in a pond?

Rick Geary is no stranger to my top ten list. In my mind he is the definitive graphic novelist for true crime and his telling of the Halls-Mills murders in particular is sheer perfection. When I started delving into his back catalog the only one of his titles I couldn't get through my local library was Louise Brooks: Detective. So I bought it cheap for my Kindle. And then it just sat on my Kindle. My to be read pile is now so unmanageable I should just call it my to be read oubliette. Books go in and never see the light of day again. But then something happened. I watched the 2018 adaptation of Laura Moriarty's book The Chaperone. I did not like the 2018 adaptation of Laura Moriarty's book The Chaperone. I mean, logically I should, so many people from Downton Abbey were involved, it seemed perfect for me. The problem was the film isn't about Louise Brooks, the film is about her chaperone Norma Carlisle. Yes, I obviously should have guessed the focus because of the title, I just didn't realize how much Louise Brooks would be sidelined. I felt bad for Haley Lu Richardson. She was giving it her all as Louise and instead we're dealing with Norma's abandonment issues and how she's handling her sexual awakening. At least Haley Lu Richardson got the break she deserved four years later thanks to The White Lotus. What all this is saying is that I wanted something actually about Louise Brooks and thanks to Rick Geary I finally found it. While Louise solving a crime when she moved back to Wichita for a "strategic retreat" after the collapse of her career didn't happen Rick Geary, with his history of retelling true crime, sets this story up in such a way that you believe it could have happened. There's a propulsive force to the narrative. We have this great backstory, not just Louise's career, but her diminishment on returning home, and then added to this is a day unlike any other. Louise just sets out to visit an old acquaintance and because of one weird coincidence after another she is able to see what the police don't. First she gets lost, then she misses her turn, then she gets a flat, if all these little things hadn't added up she couldn't have definitively told the police that there's no way in hell the chase continued further west. And because of that they find the body. But Rick Geary is able to make this feel real because he's studied so many classic crimes and he sees that it's the weird coincidences, the tiny details, the almost unbelievable yet unassailable facts that are what make up true crime. This might not have happened, but it feels like it should.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was sort of fun. But I found the concept/question of "Why a fictional account of Louise Brooks's life post-Hollywood as a detective?" (actually, she wasn't REALLY detecting--she just happened to be in a certain place at a certain time and a suspicious person) so distracting I couldn't enjoy this as much as I might've.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was a fun story, a mystery reminiscent of a Thin Man whodunnit. I truly appreciated that all of his settings were spot on - The Dockum building was lovely. I recognized the store front from down town. The bungalow, the house in Riverside, they made me smile. Apparently, I need to do a day trip to Grouse Creek.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Geary and his distinct style moves from true mysteries to a fictional one, albeit set in a slightly changed real world. A good plot that feels true to Ms. Brooks in terms of character, and a sign that Geary is just as good with fiction as he is with non-fiction.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an intriguing little book. Louise Brooks was a film actress in the 1920s. In 1940, she moved back home to live with her parents in Wichita, Kansas. In this graphic novel, Geary creates a fictionalized account of her time in Wichita, including Louise getting involved in a murder mystery. The murder itself happens fairly late in the book, because Geary spends a luxurious amount of time building Louise's world and character first. And, it turns out, giving the reader information that will be useful later! Overall the book feels like a crisp modern movie set in the 1940s, recreating the period in detail without feeling dated. Geary's black and white cartooning is precise and clear. It's a short, fun read, especially for those fond of the "parlor scene" where detectives reveal whodunit and how they figured it out.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one that I was looking forward to reading. I actually really dig the cover, and I'm always on the lookout for a straight mystery graphic novel.

Unfortunately, I thought this was just bad. The art is static, I have no idea why Louise Brooks was the protagonist, and the solution to the mystery hinges on a coincidence that is beyond unbelievable. Not to mention the fact that the crime itself is ridiculous, since it relies on one person planning to take over the life of another with no one noticing.

This is not good.

[Emilia P · Rating 4 out of 5]

More stories on the prairie! Whoopee! Geary clearly knows how to craft a compelling, suspenseful, economical little who-dun-it. For that I commend him, I couldn't put this slim volume down. Was it pretty inconsequential that the detective in question was Louise Brooks who popularized the flapper bang? Indeed! Indeed it was! Would I nevertheless be interested in her further adventures in snooping? Indeed I would! More plz.

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy is an amazing cartoonist! The lines, the details, all so good! I want more Louise Brooks detective stories too. I can totally see a sequel or series as the famed glamour girl gets swept into another Murder She Wrote style mystery. The art sells this one more than the story - but still a fun breezy read! If you like Louise Brooks, I also recommend the novel The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, Geary has a pastiche that, once familiar, does not grate nor does it innovate. It just IS Geary. But I love him to his very core. There is such a sense of joy in his work, such a sense of comfort that (oddly) comes from his dark & esoteric source material. Geary is an under-rated master, and I will continue to read all of his work.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Geary has outdone himself with Louise Brooks: Detective. I feared that this venture away from Geary's usual true crime stories into a fictionalized story of a real celebrity would be a let-down, but such is not the case. This certainly belongs among Geary's strongest work.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received an ARC from the publisher.

[Tone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Geary branches out into a first person account. Louise Brooks seems like a fascinating woman ahead of her time.

[iewi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a mystery as much as it is a story of the MC's life. It's really good, but don't go into it expecting a classic mystery story.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featuring Geary's trademark intricate style, this book is gorgeous to look at and a lot of fun to read.

[Sundry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great artwork, good story

I've read many of Rick Geary's true crime graphic novels. This is an interesting departure. I love his drawing style.the

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun side project from Geary that moves at a brisk pace. I prefer his fact-based crime comics but this is a nice diversion, especially since it stars an alternate reality version of Louise Brooks.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haberdasher does some head-bashing. Another wicked delight from Rick Geary.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but fun murder mystery. I love Rick Geary's work.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a companion to The Chaperone, which tells the story of a young Louise Brooks traveling to New York City for the first time, accompanied by a married woman who was her chaperone. It was a little basic, but still had a few interesting twists.