Title: Tickling Chanterelle
Author: George Bricker
Publisher: Toplink Publishing
ISBN: 978-1946801951
Pages: 342
Genre: Mystery
Reviewed by: Lisa Brown-Gilbert
Hollywood Book Reviews
George Bricker’s Tickling Chanterelle takes readers on a literary excursion back in time to 1937 Hollywood, where the young stars of a mystery radio show find themselves entwined in a web of real life intrigue as mystery, murder and exciting adventure, intersect. Set in Hollywood, 1937, with the golden age of radio still somewhat viable, as a form of entertainment. As it happens, two young up and coming radio actors Norman Felskin and Betsy Poldosky are working on a Radio show pilot; The Valley Sleuths, on the RTO (the Rensselaer Theatrical Orpheum) Studios movie lot.
Moreover, the lines of reality and fantasy obfuscate, as a real life mystery builds and suspense begins to permeate the environment when a troubling conundrum comes to their attention by way of a young cafeteria worker on the lot, Julio Velasquez. After Julio’s uncle does not show up to meet him at an old movie backlot, Julio needs help tracking down what happened to him, however that is not the only mystery brewing as there are rumors of the script that they are working on, as being based on puzzling true life events. Also, adding further to the mix of intrigue and mystery, is the rash of unexplained and troubling incidences on another part of the movie lot where the progress of a horror movie in the works gets hampered. The adventure, action and intrigue fly as the young adults find their way to the heart of the mystery.
Altogether, author Bricker tells an intricate tale of suspense that teemed with plot twists and housed creatively varied characters, who came across as engaging and realistic. He has a skilled writing ability that adeptly appeals to a large audience. His narrative flowed steadily, painting vivid images that stimulate the reader’s curiosity as well as the imagination, as the adventures of Norman Felskin, Betsy Poldosky and Julio Velasquez progressed with the story alternating between the worlds of the radio show and reality. My favorite part of the book was the initial pilot for the radio show, it was a fascinating way to start and build an old fashioned mystery; he knows how to apply the cliffhanger from chapter to chapter.
Additionally, the book does not contain the expected general template, like other written works, there is a great deal of exposition posed at the beginning of the book, so much so in fact that it consequently hampers the excitement of the read with too much background information with some of the information at times. Furthermore, to be more specific, the book presents a synopsis, two lengthy pre-chapters, three prefaces and a lengthy three part introduction, and two post chapters as well. While the information presented does garner some interest, it makes the read drag somewhat, because it seemed like too much information to wade through, especially in the beginning, ultimately taking too long to get to the meat of the story. However, once you get past the beginning, you are home free because therein lies a greatly appealing, steadily paced and suspenseful tale that reads like a good old-fashioned mystery story entangled within a story, which overall, turned out to be truly enjoyable.
