I need to start this review with saying this book did not work for me at all. That doesn’t mean it won’t work for you, I see a wide mix of reviews on here so please look around or even try this one to get your own opinion. I felt like the “A Rollicking Literary Murder Mystery” was misleading. There was a mystery, I was never invested in solving it, but it was there. I didn’t find anything in this story to be funny or “rollicking.” I recognized attempts at humor and thought they would be best appreciated by middle school aged boys. My style of humor is not this books, that could be different for others, but I need more to humor than the bizarre and mentions of sexual things. I also thought the author’s beginning note was misleading. He claims you don’t need to know anything about William Blake, but so much of the book ties to his history (of which I know very little) including the bizarre and silly names. Normally I try to find positives about any book, but this book I couldn’t even fully read, I started to skim about 40% in and then read the final reveals to see if it got better. It did not get better. I didn’t care about the characters, I found the philosophical tie-ins to be juvenile and like the author was trying hard to make a silly book deep.

Entertaining mystery, with an out of body experience :-)
Full Murder in Common review here:

https://murderincommon.com/2023/01/22/george-albert-brown-who-killed-jerusalem/

Review of eBook

In 1977, Ickey Jerusalem, heralded as San Francisco’s golden boy, arrives on a 747 overnight flight . . . dead. Found in a locked, first-class toilet, the poet laureate, to all appearances, committed suicide.

Ded Smith, an insurance investigator for the Olympian Life Insurance Company, joins San Francisco Police Inspector O’Nadir as he investigates the death. Despite evidence to the contrary, Ded [sometimes referred to as Doctor Deadly] is not so sure certain that Ickey’s death was by his own hand.

But if Ickey didn’t take his own life, who is responsible for the poet’s death? Could it be Robert William, the flight purser? Perhaps it was Beulah Vala, Ickey’s blind personal assistant, or Bacon Urizen, his lawyer? Or could it have been the plastic surgeon, Doctor Bromion Ulro? The business manager, Tharmas Luvah? Or, perhaps, Adam Ghostflea, Ikey’s chauffeur?

Why would any member of Ickey’s coterie murder the poet? And why would Ickey commit suicide when it seemed as if he had finally reached the apex of his creativity?

=========

Although inundated with references to William Blake’s poetry, words of wisdom, paintings, and drawings, the author of this philosophical murder mystery asserts that any familiarity with Blake is not necessary for readers of this delightful tale. And, although the author ascribes Blake’s musings to Ickey Jerusalem, the wandering metaphysical concepts may be just a tad confusing for those who have yet to meet Blake.

Ickey’s retinue is as unusual as the names they bear; their nonplussed attitudes belie the inventiveness of this madcap tale. With strong [albeit a tad comical] characters and a plot that only slowly reveals its secrets, readers who enjoy untangling the mystery before the big reveal will find much to appreciate here.

At times, the narrative tumbles into absurdity; the compelling metaphysical aspects often elicit chuckles. But the plot is clever; with its healthy dose of humor, this tightly-woven mystery is sure to keep readers guessing . . . and the denouement doesn’t disappoint.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Galbraith Literary Publishers and NetGalley
#WhoKilledJerusalem #NetGalley

Insurance adjuster Ded Smith is on a 747 flight when famous poet Ickey Jerusalem is found dead in the first class toilet. Somebody had recently taken out a policy on Jerusalem's life, so his employers commission Ded to investigate the death to see if the policy has to be honoured.

Ded's investigation involves him with a cast of weird characters who are, to varying degrees, adherents of Jerusalem's strange metaphysical theories. Ded needs to work his way through these metaphysics in order to understand what has happened, and to explain Jerusalem's death.

Brown is clearly a big fan of William Blake, but I cannot endorse his claim that you don't need any knowledge of Blake to enjoy the book. The story is chock-full of allusions to Blake's metaphysics, philosophy, mythology, art and poetry, and nearly all of the characters have names connecting them to Blake's works, in ways that appear to be relevant to the plot. I found myself constantly flicking over to Google to look up some character's name, find out how it fitted into Blake's mythos, and thence into Brown's story. In the end, this all became boring and, by the time I was about three-quarters through, I just wanted to be done with this book.