The Talk Show Murders

Steve Allen Mystery #1

by Steve Allen

When Elmo Finstetter is murdered on national television in the middle of the talk show on which he was appearing, it is merely the beginning of a series of bizarre crimes

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

314 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best-known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He graduated to become the first host of The Tonight Show, where he was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. Thereafter, he hosted numerous game and variety shows, including The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, The New Steve Allen Show, and was a regular panel member on CBS' What's My Line?

Allen was a "creditable" pianist, and a prolific composer, having penned over 14,000 songs, one of which was recorded by Perry Como and Margaret Whiting, others by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Les Brown, and Gloria Lynne. Allen won a Grammy award in 1963 for best jazz composition, with his song The Gravy Waltz. Allen wrote more than 50 books and has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Reviews

[Timothy VanderWall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Allen has always been one of my favorite entertainers. Musician, songwriter, comedian, author (fiction and non-), television personality, father of the talk show, wit, great thinker - these are all attributes that I would apply to Mr. Allen. I had read several of his other mystery novels before this one, in which he and his lovely wife, Jane, were the "detectives". So I was a bit disappointed when I got into this mystery and discovered that a private detective named Roger Dale was the "detective" this time. My disappointment soon abated when lines that Steve might utter came out of Dale's mouth (or thoughts). "She was a thin, horsey woman. You'd probably be able to tell her age by lifting her upper lip and looking at her teeth" or again "'Your metaphors are getting mixed' ... 'But what's a meta for if you can't mix it once in a while?'"
Enough of my Steve Allen adulation. The mystery itself is sound. I suspected the killer about halfway into the book, but many red herrings kept drawing me away from him/her. The concluding scene was worthy of Poirot or Wolfe, with everyone gathered together on a live Merv Griffin show (including most of the current and former talk show hosts of the day) and the murderer being unveiled by our intrepid detective.
All and all it was a pleasurable (and puzzling) read.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this mainly b/c the author, Steve Allen, was a talk show host who presented Frank Zappa & Tim Buckley in the 1960s in a friendly supportive manner when no-one else was likely to have them on tv or to react to them as anything other than weirdos. As such, I'd say he was 'visionary'. I doubt that talk show hosts like him exist anymore - but then I stopped watching tv 38 yrs ago so I'm not the best person to judge. Anyway, it didn't make an impression on me.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first mystery novel by Steve Allen who was a modern Renaissance man--comedia, author, song writer, father of the talk show, frequent game show panelist (especially on What's My Line?), variety show host and participant. Unlike later mysteries which feature Steve and his wife, Jayne Meadows, as the central amateur detectives, this one has Steve as a peripheral character, no Jayne, and the sleuth is a private investigator by the name of Roger Dale. Roger is a kind of modern Renaissance man himself--he knows a little about just about everything (and sometimes more than a little) and is willing to give lectures on any subject at the drop of a hat. Roger has also had a few spectacular cases that has made him appear as good as Sam Spade, and Nick Charles and all the rest.

When a rock star with a history with the ladies dies on Toni Tennille's talk show in front of a live studio audience. Roger Dale is a bit interested, but nobody comes knocking and offering him a fee to investigate so he's ready to move on with his life. But then Johnny Carson invites Roger and an FBI agent by the name of J. Duffy Griswold to come on his show and discuss the murder that has Hollywood talking and Roger must bone up on all the details to hold his own with the feds. Also in the line-up is Sonny Pearson, a singer being groomed to be the next Donny Osmond. Except Sonny isn't the clean-cut, boy next door. He also likes the ladies and he likes them on the young side. Or he did...because he is the next to die on live television. This time under the noses of two detectives.

That makes it personal for Roger. Just when Johnny had built him up as this super sleuth, a man falls dead right beside him on the stage. Now his reputation is on the line. And as more murders occur on other talk shows, it becomes imperative to catch the killer before he wipes out half of Hollywood.

The first Steve Allen mystery I read featured him a heck of a lot more than this one did. And I found it more enjoyable when Allen was actually putting his words into his own mouth. Roger is good, but so many of his lines sound more like Steve Allen. It also isn't difficult to figure out who the murderer is. After all, I don't think anybody is going to believe that Allen was going to pin the murder on any of those talk show hosts or actual celebrities of the late seventies/early eighties. That didn't really leave a lot of suspects hanging around. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book--because I did. It was funny and nostalgic. I loved seeing all those talk show hosts from my younger years on the page. I'd forgotten that Toni Tennille had hosted a talk show (I only remembered the Captain & Tennille Variety Show). And the ending was great--all the suspects (and all the talk show hosts) gathered on the Merv Griffin Show for a wrap-up scene that would do Hercule Poirot proud. Roger doesn't quite accuse everyone in turn, but he does point the finger in a few directions before culprit is finally identified and caught. Light entertainment, but well worth it.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as witty, funny, and tightly written as Steve's later novels with him as the main character. This one has a PI Roger Dale as the lead with Steve as minor support. Roger thinks he has ID'd the killer with 75 pages to go, but he doesn't tell the reader until the very end. So we must read the 75 pages and see what transpires. It's not taut and suspenseful, instead it seems to drag on and on. There were some interesting oddities: the name Hieronymous Bosch appears on p. 269 and I immediately thought why is Harry Bosch mentioned 10 years before he first appears in Connelly's series? I reread the line and figured out the name refers to the Dutch painter who was also the namesake for Connelly's Bosch. For hardcore Harry Bosch fans this was an interesting reference. Also there are plot lines that make no sense: a secretary to one of the murder victims cleans his office and uncovers some seemingly important evidence, but she throws everything into a trash can and burns it all. This is never referenced again, so why was it there?

[Karlie Nyte]

Steve Allen could apparently do nothing wrong, no matter what he put his hand to back in the day. Writing a murder mystery novel was no different. The characters were interesting, well developed, and the story line was captivating. Younger readers may find the list of well known characters losing clout with today's talk show hosts, but if you are middle aged, or older, you'll love the addition of well known celebs into this story.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

10 books in this series with Steve Allen being involved in solving a murder in some way. This one Steve is not the main character. The main character is interesting, but I was expecting more involvement by Steve, like in book #6.

[Tim Ganotis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Not hilarious, but a nice quick entertaining read. Wonder it hasn't been rewritten/remade with current hosts.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1987. Murder mystery.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember seeing Steve Allen on game shows in the 1970 and liking him, even as a teenager. He seemed to be to be a ‘gentleman’ and he seemed madly in love with his wife Jayne Meadows.

Now I learn that he was a ‘renaissance man’ of sorts. He not only wrote a series of murder mysteries centred on television shows, but he was a composer (This Could Be the Start of Something Big and hundreds of others) and the first host of The Tonight Show, where (Wikipedia informs me) “he was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show.” Who knew?

In the book, Toni Tenille is hosting the television talk show where a guest is murdered on national TV and no one knows who did it.

This book is clever and certainly kept me entertained while I was reading it. If I had more of the series, I’d read them. 3½ stars

[Cws]

M All

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

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