Book Review: Some Like It Hot-Buttered by Jeffrey Cohen (Comedy Tonight Mysteries #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Some comedy, the characters

Cons: Not as funny as I expected, plot

The Bottom Line:

Comedy movies

Dead bodies in theater

Expected better

This Popcorn is a Little Stale

I discovered Jeffrey Cohen with his first mystery, For Whom the Minivan Rolls. I loved this comic adventure and read the other two books in that series. When I heard he had a new series coming out, I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, Some Like It Hot-Buttered isn't as good as his previous series.

After his marriage fell apart, Elliot Freed decided to pursue his life's ambition - comedy. He bought an old abandoned theater and worked hard to rebuild it and open it as the only theater specializing in comedy in New Jersey. Every week, he shows one comedy classic and one new release. Unfortunately, the crowds aren't what he'd like them to be.

But things go from bad to worse when a man is found dead in row S seat 18. Vincent Ansella wasn't laughing at Young Frankenstein, but Elliot thought it was just a case of bad taste. No one is laughing, however, when the police determine that Mr. Ansella died of poison on his pop corn.

As if that weren't bad enough, while the police are searching the theater, they find a stack of pirated movies, and Elliot's projectionist, Anthony, quickly becomes the prime suspect. But Anthony has vanished without even telling his parents where he is going. Was this the reason Vincent was murdered? If so, what does he have to do with the movie piracy? Where is Anthony? And will Elliot act on his attraction to one of the police officers investigating the crimes?

Like Mr. Cohen's previous series, the characters were well drawn. I saw a little too much of myself in Elliot. He's a likable enough guy, but he's far from perfect. He has an interesting relationship with his ex-wife, and she's a great character as well. The suspects are well drawn, and the police officers are interesting. About the only flat character was Sophie, Elliot's second employee. I'm sure part of that is that she doesn't have much to do in this book.

The humor wasn't up to Mr. Cohen's standards, however. Like his other series, the book relies on puns, wisecracks, and sarcasm for its humor. Don't get me wrong, I did laugh at times. But it wasn't as consistent. And I sometimes felt like the book was trying too hard for laughs. In the previous series, the main character had a group of friends and family he could joke around with. Elliot doesn't have that here, and I think that made some of the humor fall flat for me.

Finally, there's the plot. It was very uneven. There were parts where things advanced and I was interested, but then the next 20 pages would be a rehash of what Elliot had learned while he tried to make sense of it all. Then there was the climax. For it to work, the villain had to act very stupidly. I really don't get what they were thinking. Not to say I wasn't hooked for that part of it. It just could have been so much better.

I know Jeffrey Cohen can do better then Some Like It Hot-Buttered, so I will give the series another chance. Hopefully, the next book will be a return to form.