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Inspector Quill #1
A Bullet in the Ballet
When one of the star dancers in Vladimir Stroganoff's ballet company is murdered after a performance, Detective-Inspector Adam Quill investigates the killing
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
3 people are currently reading
497 people want to read
About the author
Caryl Brahms
49Ìýbooks14ÌýfollowersCaryl Brahms, born Doris Caroline Abrahams was an English critic, novelist, and journalist specialising in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and television scripts.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 21, 2013
I first read this book when I was about sixteen, when I was in my balletomane period. I loved it then and I love it now. I got an old dog eared copy from amazon and it took me right back I missed it . Lesson: don't lend books you really like!
August 29, 2013
Synopsis: Murder runs rampant among the members of the Stroganoff ballet company. It seems that the title role in the ballet Petroushka is an unlucky one. When the dancer Palook is shot just at the moment of the character's death, Inspector Adam Quill is called in to discover who might have wanted the dancer dead. Just when he settles on fellow dancer Pavel (who just happens to move into the vacant starring role) as his culprit, someone eliminates the newest Petroushka before he even gets to make his entrance. Is it possible that someone hated both dancers? Or does someone have a real dislike for the ballet itself and hopes to cancel the show? Quill hunts among the dressing rooms for clues and interviews all and sundry in the company....but it will take one more performance of the ill-fated ballet before the case will be solved
According to the blurbs in the International Polygonics edition of A Bullet in the Ballet by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon, everyone from Sir John Gielgud to Sir Alec Guinness to Andrew Lloyd Weber thought this book was the wittiest, funniest book ever--or at least when the edition was published in 1984. Ned Sherrin who wrote the introduction says, "There have been three great English comic novelists of high style in this century--Waugh, Firbank, and the combination of Brahms and Simon." Well...okay.
Maybe one has to be a little more conversant with the ways of the ballet world or have knowledge of the ballets which are mentioned or something....because this one did not find this book to be all that hysterical or witty. Mildly amusing at times--yes. But great high comedy? Not so much. It is full stereotypical prima donnas, stereotypical Russian ballerinas, a stereotypical ballet company owner, and a stereotypically dense policeman (who wouldn't recognize the murderer if s/he had a giant "M" painted on their forehead--and s/he might as well). There is all the little jealousies and love affairs and preening and temper tantrums that one would expect backstage in any of the arts--overplayed and larger-than-life. The mystery (as hinted in reference to the dense policeman) isn't particularly mysterious. I spotted the murderer in one of the earliest appearances--Quill isn't quite so quick.
The most interesting character is Stroganoff, the company's owner. His single-minded "the show must go on" attitude in the face of his rapidly diminishing stock of lead dancers is the most amusing part of the whole book. He simply can't understand why the police are so upset that he had Palook's body whisked off-stage while the grand finale continued virtually uninterrupted. The audience never suspects that the star is really dead--and, in fact, a few critics remark that the death of Petroushka was rather unconvincing. It is on Stroganoff's behalf that I am assigning two and a half stars to A Bullet in the Ballet.
This was first posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
According to the blurbs in the International Polygonics edition of A Bullet in the Ballet by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon, everyone from Sir John Gielgud to Sir Alec Guinness to Andrew Lloyd Weber thought this book was the wittiest, funniest book ever--or at least when the edition was published in 1984. Ned Sherrin who wrote the introduction says, "There have been three great English comic novelists of high style in this century--Waugh, Firbank, and the combination of Brahms and Simon." Well...okay.
Maybe one has to be a little more conversant with the ways of the ballet world or have knowledge of the ballets which are mentioned or something....because this one did not find this book to be all that hysterical or witty. Mildly amusing at times--yes. But great high comedy? Not so much. It is full stereotypical prima donnas, stereotypical Russian ballerinas, a stereotypical ballet company owner, and a stereotypically dense policeman (who wouldn't recognize the murderer if s/he had a giant "M" painted on their forehead--and s/he might as well). There is all the little jealousies and love affairs and preening and temper tantrums that one would expect backstage in any of the arts--overplayed and larger-than-life. The mystery (as hinted in reference to the dense policeman) isn't particularly mysterious. I spotted the murderer in one of the earliest appearances--Quill isn't quite so quick.
The most interesting character is Stroganoff, the company's owner. His single-minded "the show must go on" attitude in the face of his rapidly diminishing stock of lead dancers is the most amusing part of the whole book. He simply can't understand why the police are so upset that he had Palook's body whisked off-stage while the grand finale continued virtually uninterrupted. The audience never suspects that the star is really dead--and, in fact, a few critics remark that the death of Petroushka was rather unconvincing. It is on Stroganoff's behalf that I am assigning two and a half stars to A Bullet in the Ballet.
This was first posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
August 23, 2014
I first read Bullet in the Ballet as a teenager and then again several times as an adult. I haven't read it now for many years. Re-reading it, I found it had lost none of its comic zest. This book is a classic. Written in the 1930s, it is still riotously funny today, with its cast of loveably self-obsessessed Russian dancers and their mammas, not forgetting Nicholas Navajno, choreographer of the future (and his ever-hopeful refrain "you schange me small scheque?") and the impressario of the company Vladimir Stroganoff. Many of the devices used by later comic writers were pioneered here: the reference to people by their clothes ("the suit beamed smugly"), the repeated catch-phrases,and the use of whimsical footnotes (much employed by the great Terry Pratchett). I can't believe this is out of print now ("Poof!": Stroganoff).
February 16, 2021
Over familiar. As a murder mystery that is. I'm not sure it is thought. I think its a hilarious satire on the Russian ballet. 4* for that. Remarkably serially open and diverse for 1937. Good fun.
October 17, 2014
A 1937 humorous whodunnit by the established team of Caryl Brahms (Evening Standard ballet critic) and S J Simon bridge international and Observer columnist. More life, wit, good writing in 170 pages than in most modern equivalents. With a detective named Insp Quill, an impresario named Stroganov, and the death of the lead doll in the ballet Petrushka at the moment he dies in the ballet (unusual because he normally dies two beats late!).
It starts: Since it is probable that any book flying a bullet in its title is going to produce a corpse sooner or later - here it is. Dressed somewhat extravagantly in trousers of red and yellow check ........ There is a neat little hole in the centre of its forehead. It died magnificently in the presence of two thousand people, most of whom had paid for their seats. ......
A treat.
It starts: Since it is probable that any book flying a bullet in its title is going to produce a corpse sooner or later - here it is. Dressed somewhat extravagantly in trousers of red and yellow check ........ There is a neat little hole in the centre of its forehead. It died magnificently in the presence of two thousand people, most of whom had paid for their seats. ......
A treat.
March 8, 2011
For the second time I have been taken in by International Polygonics. The back cover suggests that Brahms and Simon share space in the pantheon with Waugh and Firbank, but really they are more comparable to lesser Wodehouse. The plot is underdeveloped, and the ending is just as telegraphed as it seems to be. The simplicity of the mystery makes the inspector seem laughably inept. By halfway through, Brahms and Simon have provided every clue short of a flashing neon arrow pointed at the murderer, and still Inspector Quill omits the murderer's name from a list of suggests. While mysteries which strive above all else to obfuscate the killer until the last moment are also tiresome, mysteries in which the gimmick is too obvious must sustain tension to keep the plot interesting. There is no tension in A Bullet in the Ballet. Almost all of the humor in the book derives from the fact that the ballet company central to the mystery is Russian and packed with irrational prima donnas; thus the book is not especially funny. Lyrical passages about ballet are a bit purple but better and more interesting than most of the book. This is apparently the work of Carol Brahms, and the mysterious aspects the work of S.J. Simon.
June 15, 2019
Funny, sharp, murder, ballet satire. Very enjoyable
April 21, 2024
When the Stroganoff Ballet's leading male dancer is murdered during opening night, everyone is a suspect:
February 10, 2018
A murder in the ballet draws new detective inspector Quill to the case. The show must go on...even if it means destroying clues, moving the body, backstabbing each other, and lying just to attract attention...
Mapcap. I didn't care for this because it was jerkily written, easy to lose track of this or that, or even of one's place in the paragraph. But it did prove to have me completely fooled after I was sure what had gone down and what red herrings had been laid in my path.
Mapcap. I didn't care for this because it was jerkily written, easy to lose track of this or that, or even of one's place in the paragraph. But it did prove to have me completely fooled after I was sure what had gone down and what red herrings had been laid in my path.
July 20, 2024
A very old school crime mystery. First published in 1937, so pretty close to being 100 years old. As such the humour is at times quite out of step with what a modern reader expects and the 'crime' part is thoroughly historical in every way.
About the authors; Caryl Brahms was an English critic of theatre and ballet. She collaborated with S. J. Simon on a number of novels and this was (I believe) the first. In this fun and funny little book multiple murders in a Russian Ballet company force a very English, unimaginative inspector to deal with all the flamboyant, extravagant individuals. One feels strongly that such individuals were directly sourced from people and incidents knows to the authors (except, one hopes, maybe the murders). As the controlled hysteria of the troupe's day to day life renders the inspector confused and uncertain.
I really enjoyed it, but I like reading novels written historically. I suggest it might not be for everyone and if the modern thriller/crime/action type book is your go-to, this one might not be for you.
And I don't own that ugly, childish cover; mine is a penguin #377.
About the authors; Caryl Brahms was an English critic of theatre and ballet. She collaborated with S. J. Simon on a number of novels and this was (I believe) the first. In this fun and funny little book multiple murders in a Russian Ballet company force a very English, unimaginative inspector to deal with all the flamboyant, extravagant individuals. One feels strongly that such individuals were directly sourced from people and incidents knows to the authors (except, one hopes, maybe the murders). As the controlled hysteria of the troupe's day to day life renders the inspector confused and uncertain.
I really enjoyed it, but I like reading novels written historically. I suggest it might not be for everyone and if the modern thriller/crime/action type book is your go-to, this one might not be for you.
And I don't own that ugly, childish cover; mine is a penguin #377.
June 3, 2020
Was kind of surprised this his as much of a rep with mystery fans as it does: it's much more effective as a lampoon of the world of ballet than it is as a whodunnit. When you're reading something that paints in such broad strokes it's fairly hard to really care about characters with names like Petunia Patch, Anton Palook, and Stroganoff, let alone who is killing them, or why. It's fairly amusing nevertheless, might even read it again if I'm still alive in 10 or 20 years.
May 18, 2024
I got a stack of books for Mother's Day this year, and I decided Bullet in the Ballet would be the perfect place to start. It's a 1930s British mystery, full of biting dry humor, a bunch of Russian ballerinas, and a coupe of dead bodies.
I can see why Brahms and Simon aren't the sort of household name Agatha Christie is, but it was a delightful, snarky little mystery, and I wouldn't turn down another Inspector Quill mystery.
I can see why Brahms and Simon aren't the sort of household name Agatha Christie is, but it was a delightful, snarky little mystery, and I wouldn't turn down another Inspector Quill mystery.
April 27, 2018
Murder mystery as high farce. The whodunnit isn't especially hard to work out, but it's worth it for the sheer ridiculousness at every turn, with ludicrously over the top characters and a lot of wonderfull accurate ballet critique
February 23, 2019
Some terrific sketches of ludicrous egos and petty rivalries. The mystery... poof!
May 6, 2021
Very well written, more comedy than crime.
January 18, 2024
Not your stereotypical murder mystery. This one will keep you guessing AND laughing!
August 8, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
Read
May 29, 2023There’s something in the water in England in the 1920s and 1930s where so many people wanted to get into the mystery writing game. There’s a weird little mystery by AA Milne, by TH White, by Miles Franklin. This pair is not famous first, but the weirdness of this little book is of a type. Ultimately I didn’t like this one that much because it was too silly for me. A book both trying to be silly and parodic and using silly names usually doesn’t work for me, and even when the actual crime is rendered in realistically well-done ways. It’s not a go for me.
Anyway, in a very self aware narration, the book begins by telling us that we’re in a murder mystery and lets get right down to it. We are taken to the scene at a travelling Russian ballet where the lead actor playing Petroushka is shot through the head, on stage, in full costume. I don’t know much about specific ballets, but I looked this one up and he’s a clown and also I think a marionette, and that’s how he’s described. If you google 1930s ballet you can find creepy pictures from this show and others (as well as youtube videos of dancing that looks oddly bad � again, not an expert � especially compared to the very good stage dancing of musicals). Anyway, he’s dead, he has a goofy made up name, and so since we’re in London, the flying squad is brought in and the tall debonair police detective Adam Quill takes over.
So the novel goes on and on, silly thing happens, silly thing resolves etc. It’s farcical and goofy, and not super my thing. I am interested in another of their books that is not a fake mystery novel, so I will let you know.
Anyway, in a very self aware narration, the book begins by telling us that we’re in a murder mystery and lets get right down to it. We are taken to the scene at a travelling Russian ballet where the lead actor playing Petroushka is shot through the head, on stage, in full costume. I don’t know much about specific ballets, but I looked this one up and he’s a clown and also I think a marionette, and that’s how he’s described. If you google 1930s ballet you can find creepy pictures from this show and others (as well as youtube videos of dancing that looks oddly bad � again, not an expert � especially compared to the very good stage dancing of musicals). Anyway, he’s dead, he has a goofy made up name, and so since we’re in London, the flying squad is brought in and the tall debonair police detective Adam Quill takes over.
So the novel goes on and on, silly thing happens, silly thing resolves etc. It’s farcical and goofy, and not super my thing. I am interested in another of their books that is not a fake mystery novel, so I will let you know.
May 22, 2016
Anton Palook is shot dead on stage, at the end of his performance in the ballet Petroushka, the audience is unaware and the ballet continues. When Inspector Gill arrives all the evidence has been moved and he is faced with a company of almost excessively eccentric characters most of whom were, or could have been, in a position to fire the shot. Gill's investigations (aided by the ballet's routinely insulted dogsbody Stanley) uncover many motives and then the weapon. Everything points to Pavel as the culprit, the arrest is postponed 'til after his performance, but in stage he too is killed, and now Gill discovers a third dancer, in the same role, died in Paris, a suspected suicide. Unsure who to suspect, or perhaps suspecting everyone, the ballet continues, we wait to see, will Kasha, the latest to take the role, also be killed? The story climaxes with this final performance and the perpetrator confesses all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2015
By the book Scotland Yard detective Adam Quill may be an educated policeman, but he's out of his death when Anton Palook dies at the culmination of a performance of Petroushka. None of his fellow dancers, nor the others involved in the ballet, seem to care, and all incriminate themselves and their friends with careless abandon. Just as Quill is about to make an arrest, a second murder leaves his theories in shambles. But someone killed Palook!
December 5, 2014
I read this in the Library at school (along with the other Brahms and Simons books and Puckoon) instead of working at my studies. I can't say that I was wrong. I found it funny then and still did after re-reading a couple of years ago. The plot, such as it is, is really a cloak for the wit and humour of both writers.
June 4, 2016
A delightful romp takes place backstage of a Russian ballet company in the nineteen thirties, featuring over the top characters and Brit silliness. Some ballet knowledge is helpful, but not necessary. The author inserts the plots and stage action of the relevant ballets into the narrative of the story. The climax is rather anti, but the mystery is neatly resolved.
December 31, 2012
Deeply silly, but good fun.
January 6, 2014
Loved the satirical picture of the world of pre WWII ballet, but the novel has aged...alas.
Want to read
October 6, 2018Synopsis: there's been a murder in the Stroganoff Ballet; Inspector Quill has a suspect but he dies too.
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