Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery

Written by Fred Van Lente

Narrated by JD Jackson

Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both an homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire. As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?

A darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and other classics of the genre, Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781536663822

Fred Van Lente

Fred Van Lente is the New York Times bestselling author of comic books like Cowboys & Aliens and Marvel Zombies. He lives in Brooklyn, like every other writer on the planet (by law), with his wife, Crystal, and some mostly ungrateful cats. His previous funny nonfiction comics with Ryan were Action Philosophers! (named a YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens by the American Library Association) and The Comic Book History of Comics (which Fred’s mom really likes). He does not own a time machine but will be the first on line to buy one as soon as someone gets around to inventing them.

Reviews for Ten Dead Comedians

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book had a slow start, but it certainly got more interesting as the bodies began to pile up. It's been ages since I read Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, but the concepts from that classic mystery are recognizable in this novel. My only compliant is that, for all that the characters were professional comedians, I didn't really feel that their jokes were funny. They just seemed to act like snarky adults in cutthroat careers. By the end, I had reluctantly come to like a few characters, but I started out with an intense dislike for them all. Overall, a fun read, if not nearly has funny as I had hoped.

[brianewilliams · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a mystery story based on Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". It's a tale of 10 comedians who are lured to a Caribbean island and marooned there. One by one they are killed off. I did not like it, and it was a struggle to finish it. There is little or no character development, which prevented any engagement with their predicament. They were no attractive people. The satire was lost on me. It was a big disappointment. Best to avoid it if you are looking for a story true to the Agatha Christie genre.

[jane3phillips-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable read featuring a cast of comedians, who are each rather horrible (but great to read about) lured to an island getaway and murdered in gruesome ways! I enjoyed the stand up intervals interspersed throughout the novel as well.

[readingover50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a funny murder mystery. It was an entertaining and a quick read. 10 strangers are on a deserted island, the home of legendary comedian Dustin Walker. He has invited them there to work on his latest project. When they arrive, they find the island deserted and their host dead. With no internet or phone service, they have no way of getting off the island. And one by one, they are being murdered.

The ways they are killed become increasingly complex, as we try to figure out who is responsible for the deaths, and who, if anyone, will survive. The main story is interspersed with comedy monologues from each of the comedians. I felt the monologues were the weakest part of the story. Towards the end, I just skipped over them. I don't feel like I missed anything.

It also seemed that the people weren't taking the threat seriously enough. They didn't seem as panicked as I think I would be. As in all horror movies, people were still going off by themselves instead of sticking together. And being lured to isolated locations. Why are people so stupid?

For all these flaws, this was still a fun read. I enjoyed the basic story. The murders were inventive and the ending was satisfying. Just be prepared for characters that you like to die. This is a murder mystery after all.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[thetreereader · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I won a copy of this book from Goodreads and was so excited. It sounded like it would be such a fun read. Man was I wrong.I honestly thought I would enjoy this book but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t really find it funny, I didn’t like any of the characters, and I found it to be predictable. Half way through the book I figured out who the killer was and how they were doing it.It seems like this is a love it or hate it kind of book. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it. I thought it was just okay. However, other people have given it four or five stars. This isn’t a book I would recommend, but if it sounds good to you, I wouldn’t say don’t read it. You might be one of those people who enjoyed it. The writing was good, so I would like to give this author another chance.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.A group of stand up comedians is brought to a mysterious isolated island, seemingly to be part of a new project by the most famous comedian in existance. But they quickly discover not all is what it seems, as they begin to be killed off one by one.I'm immediately in for any book that is an homage to And Then There Were None, one of my top three favorite books of all time. I loved all the little touches that referenced the mystery great, whether it was the island setting, or the headshots on the wall (instead of little statues), or the video accusation (instead of a record). What also drew me to this book is that it promised to be a decidedly unique take on a classic with the cast of characters Van Lente presented.This was a mystery that definitely kept me guessing! There were a lot of great twists and turns, especially a well-done big twist at the end.I felt the motivation behind the killings rang a little thin. It didn't seem enough necessarily within the context of the book for the murderer to have gone to such great lengths to kill this specific group of people.It was also sometimes hard, I felt, to translate stand up comedy to the written page. There were a lot of transcripts of monologue performances that didn't always work for me.If you are looking for a quick mystery read that is a fun, unique take on one of the best mysteries of all time, I would recommend this book. I had fun reading it, and it flew by.