The Company of Knaves: A Philip Fletcher Mystery

by Simon Shaw

Overview

"Poisonously funny." - The New York Times

The Company of Knaves is a hilarious, satirical and very black novel from highly acclaimed author Simon Shaw.

Philip Fletcher, actor-murderer, is thrown into a jealous rage when he hears that his most hated rival is up for a knighthood. Fletcher desperately wants one too but can't immediately see how to go about it.

The death of a gossipy fellow actor and the subsequent threat of scandal to his family and colleagues opens up a tantalising possibility for Fletcher: he could always blackmail his way to a knighthood. Such a course, though, is perilous, involving undercover penetration of an S & M night-club. Is Fletcher up to the job? To what lengths will ambition take him? And is murder on the agenda - yet again?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312299897
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/15/1997
Series:	Philip Fletcher Mysteries , #5
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.51(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Fun and bawdy entertainment." - Publishers Weekly

"Tart and effortlessly amusing. Fans of Philip's earlier five adventures, of course, will read on breathlessly." - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Shaw (The Villain of the Earth, 1995) sends up both actors and politicians in this witty romp through London's Soho with amoral and unshockable actor Philip Fletcher. As the London theater world mourns the death of gay actor Seymour Loseby, his son, Nigel, a Conservative MP, is being blackmailed: if he doesn't pay up, his father's missing and very juicy diary will be published. Nigel turns to Philip, his father's friend and fellow actor for help. Philip, unhampered by scruples, promptly blackmails Nigel himself: he'll get the diary if Nigel will help get him a knighthood. Philip quickly identifies the blackmailer as Doris Afternoon, a drag queen who runs a cabaret. Posing as transvestite singer Marlene von Trapp, Philip gets behind the scenes at the cabaret and discovers that one of the regular customers is a prominent attorney who admits to trying to sell the diary to the tabloids on Doris's behalf, in exchange for her silence about his sexual inclinations. This funny and bawdy entertainment is marred by some jarring brutality near the end; readers may also find Philip's amorality hard to swallow. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Well-known British actor Philip Fletcher, of acid tongue and vaulting ambition, trades his investigative services for the promise of a knighthood. Fletcher, among the last to see old reprobate (and famous actor) Seymour Loseby alive, believes that he can retrieve the man's stolen diary (full of "perversion" and aspersion) before it can be used to embarrass Seymour's highly visible MP son. An off-beat plot, humorously peculiar supporting cast, and Fletcher's barbed-but-eloquent tongue make this latest entry in Shaw's theatrical-crime series (e.g., Dead for a Ducat, St. Martin's, 1996) a pleasure to read. Strongly recommended.

Library Journal

Stung by a hated rival's knighthood, accomplished actor/criminal Philip Fletcher vows he'll be on next year's Honors List, no matter what it takes to get there. Then the death of Philip's gossipy old friend Seymour Loseby on the way home from Bosie Butterflys, a notorious drag club, provides him a heaven-sent opportunity. Seymour's straitlaced son, a rising Tory M.P., comes to Philip puling that his papa's diary, crammed to bursting with the well-spied indiscretions of Seymour's illustrious intimates, has been stolen and held for a œ150,000 ransom. Is there anything Philip can do to help? Of course there is: Philip will recover the incriminating diary in return for a simple "Sir." The resulting bargain, which takes Philip back to Bosie Butterflys again and again, will tax his thespian abilities to the limit, place him in harm's way at the hands of audiences perhaps too uncritically appreciative of his performances, and require him to break several laws besides those of good taste. It'll also give him some anxious moments about what Seymour might have confided as to the felonies Philip himself perpetrated in Dead for a Ducat (1996) and elsewhere. But all of it, except for Philip's tired 11th-hour maneuverings in the trunk of the car carrying him to his presumed death, is tart and effortlessly amusing. Fans of Philip's earlier five adventures, of course, will read on breathlessly wondering if this time he'll escape without committing or concealing a murder.

Kirkus Reviews