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A Chicago attorney scours the Big Apple for a missing bride and a wedding-night murderer in a mystery that's "Miss Rice at her best" (The New Yorker). On a break from the Windy City, aspiring crime novelist Jake Justus and his wife, Helene, are acquainting themselves with Manhattan's finest cocktail lounges when they befriend Dennis Morrison, a blind-drunk groom. The handsome former male escort thought he'd found his bounty in homely heiress Bertha Lutts, but while their wedding night may show more have been a bust, the morning after turned out to be the real horror. It seems Bertha has vanished from their bridal suite and in her place is an unidentified beheaded woman. Having taken a shine to Dennis, Jake and Helene call on his best defense: Chicago attorney John J. Malone. Winding his way through both the city's low lives and its high society, Malone quickly discovers a link between the nameless victim, the missing bride, and a slick gigolo: a bohemian Greenwich Village poetess who is free with her verse, knows more than she realizes, and is becoming more frightened with every New York minute. But when Dennis disappears as well, Malone's left with the itchy feeling that another dead end is right around the corner. The basis for the 1945 film starring Carole Landis and Pat O'Brien, Having Wonderful Crime is "a pleasure to read as pure entertainment but there's a also a wicked social voice reporting back from the eyries of the wealthy and privileged. [Rice's] observations are worthy of Tom Wolfe at his best and nastiest" (Ed Gorman). Having Wonderful Crime is the 3rd book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Helene and Jake Justus befriend a soused gent who is trying to steal lilies from a display in the hotel lobby. Seems he’s newlywed who has been out on the town. When they manage to get him to his room and bride, they discover a decapitated woman’s body! When the coroner’s report comes out, it seems the body and the head are not related!
An SOS is sent to the Justus’ friend, John J. Malone, to help solve this mystery! Meanwhile, the groom keeps disappearing, friends of the bride are receiving letters from the bride about how wonderful her honeymoon is. The body parts are not only not related, and they are not the missing bride!
Helene, Jake and Malone each have their own ideas on solving the mystery and go their own way. Crossing show more paths and not always comparing notes, confusion abounds!
Written in 1943, it isn’t just another mystery — it’s a madcap mystery! A bit along the lines of “The Thin Man” and fun to read. show less
An SOS is sent to the Justus’ friend, John J. Malone, to help solve this mystery! Meanwhile, the groom keeps disappearing, friends of the bride are receiving letters from the bride about how wonderful her honeymoon is. The body parts are not only not related, and they are not the missing bride!
Helene, Jake and Malone each have their own ideas on solving the mystery and go their own way. Crossing show more paths and not always comparing notes, confusion abounds!
Written in 1943, it isn’t just another mystery — it’s a madcap mystery! A bit along the lines of “The Thin Man” and fun to read. show less
Pretty good old-school big-city murder story, to be honest! Got all that crunchy details and twists one would want.
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Author Information
52+ Works 1,905 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1943
- People/Characters
- John J. Malone
- Related movies
- Having Wonderful Crime (1945 | IMDb)
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 80
- Popularity
- 395,740
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 7
