Even the Butler Was Poor: A Ben Spanner & H. J. Mavity Mystery

By: Ron Goulart

Narrated by: Clifton Satterfield

Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

H. J. Mavity, painter of paperback romance covers, has a perplexing riddle to solve when her ex-boyfriend, Rick Dell, collapses at her feet after telling her that the words "ninety-nine clop clop" hold the clue to a lot of money. Although Dell has clearly been murdered, H. J.'s avarice gets the better of her and she determines to risk the ire of whoever has killed Dell to go after the money. First, however, she must understand the riddle and who better to help her than her ex-husband, Ben Spanner, a gifted mimic whose voice is known to millions through TV and radio commercials. Ben knows just about every show business joke around and will surely be familiar with the routine of a hack stand-up comic like Dell. Ben is some¬what aggrieved to see H. J. again for he knows better than anyone else that she spells trouble. He comes through with the riddle to which "ninety-nine clop clop" is the solution but H. J.'s lingering attraction for him overcomes his common sense and he, too,is soon in pursuit of the stash Dell's clue points to-though more to protect H. J. than to feather his own nest.

Little does Ben suspect that H. J. has plans that don't include him. When a new job takes him to New York City to play the voice of an English muffin, H. J. takes the opportunity to slip away from his Connecticut home with the contents of Dell's hideaway. Ben, who thought he had convinced H. J. that their and should be turned over to the police, must now use all his ingenuity to save her from a desperate killer.

©1990 Ronald Goulart (P)2012 David Wilson

Excellent

H J date was late, coming, as he falls and dies at her feet, he utters 99 clop clop, He owed her money was it a clue or what. She gets her ex to help her, he can’t refuse her. He specializes in voice over artist and has a lot of jokes. Amusing story that was added by the narration was good. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

Campy

Had its moments.

Clifton Satterfield did an OK job of narrating.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

To portray a voice actor, get a voice actor

Ron Goulart's story and storytelling are aces. Clifton Satterfield's third-person narration is very good. But Satterfield's character voices leave a lot to be desired. Even if the mannerisms given to Ben Spanner in his off-duty voice are meant as satirical of some actual voice artists I can think of, they are just too obnoxious for a main protagonist not intended to be a laughingstock. And when Spanner does impressions of familiar actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, it's clear that Satterfield has NO idea what those still-famous voices sound like. He doesn't know how to pronounce Mel Blanc's last name. He "corrects" Henny Youngman's first name to "Henry." He's a good narrator in some respects, but he wasn't the right choice for this book.

movie type fun

Easy to imagine this being the script for a 1940s Nick Charles movie. Thoroughly likeable characters in zany mystery setup. The entertainment industry setting ( commercials, voice acting, comedians, ventriloquists and romance novels) gives opportunity to bring in a bunch of diverse professional people. Glad to get away from the usual real estate agents, lawyers and bankers, that populate so much of today's fiction. Ron Goulart must have been a fascinating as well as insightful person

Our main character is such a nice guy I wish I knew him.