Lawrence Block's homage (of sorts) to Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe. It doesn't so much imitate as try to update (circa 1974) the basic story concept. It comes across as something of a low rent, almost seedy Nero Wolfe knock-off with a lot of sex going on. At times it seems more satire than homage while at other times it just seems odd. If I were the kind of person who gave up easily I would have cast this book aside in the first 30 pages, it just wasn't appealing to me... frankly, if it weren't written by Lawrence Block I probably would never have been motivated to finish it.The Nero Wolfe surrogate Leo Haig is a comic character, bumbling and inept in many ways (board games, pipe smoking and propping his feet on his desk) but apparently sharp in the ways of deductive reasoning. The Archie Goodwin stand-in is Chip Harrison a young man with very active hormones who seems intent on "scoring" every chance he can, he's much less witty and charming than Stout's Goodwin (surprising since author Block can and does write very humorous and clever dialogue in his other series) and seems to be more of a clueless bystander than anything else. Had the Harrison character been more likable or even less one dimensional the book could have been much more interesting.The mystery is okay, it's not the kind where the reader is given all the clues needed to solve it, it sticks to the Wolfe formula of having all the suspects gathered in one room for the final solution to the case. It's average at best. I doubt I'll try any of the other books in this series.
#3 in the Chip Harrison series. APA "Five Little Rich Girls", this 1974 series entry is the 3rd of 4 for this short lived Block character. Amusing, with Chip's boss Leo Haig a Nero Wolfe parody.Chip Harrison is settling in as assistant to detective Leo Haig. Chip discovers the body of his girlfriend, Melanie Trelawney. Chip and Leo are suspicious, especially considering the previous "accidental" deaths of two of Melanie's four sisters. Determined to protect the remaining Trelawney siblings, Chip and Leo work to unravel the machinations of a savvy and sinister killer.
What do You think about Make Out With Murder (1997)?
First published in 1974, Five Little Rich Girls was published in the US as Make Out With Murder. It’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek PI tale, with a fair splattering of in-gags for fans of crime fiction, with the central character’s boss being a mystery novel aficionado seeking to ape the success and notoriety of Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe amongst others. The tale is written in the first person from the perspective of Chip Harrison, a high school drop-out and street smart young man, who investigates the suspicious death of his girlfriend and two of her sisters. Whilst the story starts out as a parody it progressively takes the investigation more seriously, turning into a genuine whodunnit. It never quite loses its light hearted, sometimes improbable nature, and at times is quite racy. Overall, an okay read that got better as it progressed.
—Rob Kitchin
