by Gypsy Rose Lee
I was in the mood for a curiosity, so I read Mother Finds a Body, by Gypsy Rose Lee. What and Who? you might ask.
Lee was America’s most famous burlesque-and-striptease star of the mid-20th century. She penned a memoir titled Gypsy, which became a musical play and a 1962 movie with Natalie Wood and Rosalind Russell. Oh, and she wrote two murder mysteries, including this one.
I consider murder-mystery novels written by famous strippers to be a “curiosity.”
The plot: A handful of comics and dancers traveling east with a trailer make a pit stop in Ysleta, Texas, and discover a body under the bed in their mobile home.
If you’ve watched any screwball comedies from the 1930s, what ensues is very much like those. Lots of tough talk, quaint jargon, and quirky characters.
Like one of Lee’s costumes during her act, there’s not a lot of material here — but it’s an enjoyable watch.
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