Ron Goulart wrote 6 mysteries in which screenwriter Frank Denby teams with comedian Groucho Marx to play amateur detective and solve murders in 1930-era Hollywood. In "Groucho Marx, King of the Jungle", Randy Spellman, star of the Ty-Gor (what loincloth-garbed white-guy king of the jungle might they be alluding to?) series of movies has been found dead on the set. His former girlfriend is suspected but she seems to have vanished. The studio calls the police, but also asks the scriptwriter (Denby) to look into it.

Face it, this is not the Great American Novel, filled with pathos and profound thoughts that will change the course of history but it isn't intended to be. Goulart does a fine job of capturing the off-beat humor of Groucho, which doesn't alter one whit whether he's on or off camera. He features cameos with other stars and characters of 1930s Hollywood, and devotes a lot of print to describing that scene and the just-pre World War II mentality of the day.

Ron Goulart wrote 6 mysteries in which screenwriter Frank Denby teams with comedian Groucho Marx to play amateur detective and solve murders in 1930-era Hollywood. I hated to reach the conclusion of this one, because there isn't a 7th book in the series for me to enjoy now.

RATING: 4 stars.

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