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Death By Sarcasm (2000)

by Dani Amore(Favorite Author)

3.21 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

series

Mary Cooper

review 1: This is the first book I’ve read by Dani Amore. After reading through the reviews, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. In this unusual mystery Mary Cooper’s uncle, a stand-up comedian, is found dead behind a comedy club. The killer left a note that indicates he has a sense of humor too—or at least thinks he does. Mary’s investigation into her uncle’s murder takes her through seedy comedy clubs in the underbelly of Los Angeles. She finds herself immersed in a world of Hollywood has-beens, each with a dry wit to rival her own. Pretty soon another comedian is murdered, then another. If you like a good murder mystery filled with unusual characters, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book.
review 2: In reading some of the other reviews... more here, it seems many people thought the sarcasm private investigator Mary Cooper used in Dani Amore's "Death by Sarcasm" was too frequent and too crude. If it is, then God help me, I'm sicker than I'd thought, because I laughed a lot.Mary Cooper's uncle, Brent Cooper, is found murdered outside an L.A. comedy club. Brent was older, his career in twilight, and the club was certainly not The Comedy Store. Strictly the dregs. Mary and her family gather for the memorial service, and everybody is constantly riffing, with biting sarcasms and uncouth one-liners.One day, Mary is approached by an old friend of Brent's to find the murderer. Unlike most of Brent's pals from the day, Whitney Braggs had a good career, as a lucrative voice-over artist among other things. When Mary gets taken in for questioning, Whitney whisks in with a high-powered lawyer to spring Mary from custody. One day, Mary meets "the boys," the surviving members of Brent and Whitney's old social circle. Most of them are old leches, but once a comedian, always a comedian. Mary is left with more questions than answers.As she works the case, suspect after suspect is eliminated--literally--until Mary finally solves it for good, and can move on with her life."Death by Sarcasm" contains a bunch of sarcasm--duh. Mary and her family, and all of her late uncle's friends are constantly jibing and cutting at one another. I suppose I can see where this could be disconcerting for some people. However, if you've hung around groups of comedians for any period of time, you find that the sarcasm, the cutting jibes and non-stop jokes are omnipresent. Stand-up comedy is a bitch of a job. It looks easy on "Letterman" or "The Tonight Show," but in reality, it's hard work. You bust ass coming up with your schtick; you write and memorize your material, and then you end up in half-filled shithole clubs full of less-than-attentive audiences. When comedians hang out together, the ensuing unending stream of insults and rude comments aren't personal: it's a de facto part of the process. You're with the handful of others who know what it's like onstage, and if you can survive the abuse your fellow pros give you, handling some drunk heckler in Missoula is no challenge at all.Yes, some of the language gets a bit coarse--and there's one scene involving lots of racial epithets--but it's as much a part of the setting as is metro Los Angeles, or Catalina Island. In "Death By Sarcasm," Dani Amore presents a decent mystery, with a one-of-a-kind heroine, and the strange comedy subculture. I thought it was very funny; if you're easily shocked, you may well find it inappropriate and offensive. If you don't think you can handle it, by all means--save your money. If you can handle the unceasing barrage of sarcasm, "Death By Sarcasm" could just have you laughing as much as I did.You sick bastard.(note: Some of the other reviews I've read talk about numerous typos and grammatical slips in "Death By Sarcasm." It seems to have been re-edited since then. The copy I read had only a few errors. In her Goodreads blog, Ms Amore mentions proofreading the novel while being hungover in Las Vegas. Presumably, it's been fixed since then.) less

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