Edison Bixby is a brilliant detective. But his most high profile case turned out to be his last as an LAPD detective. Called to the scene of a murder in the ballroom of the Bellmont Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Bixby finds Grant Murdock, top chef, wealthy restauranteur, and narcissistic playboy, dead with his face in a bowl of soup. Sharing Murdock’s table was a who’s who of LA society. Only Murdock had touched the soup. Bixby quickly determines that Murdock’s table mates had poisoned all the soup spoons, waiting for Murdock to use his and die. Bixby’s conclusion is so on the nose that one of the murderers, Edith Gotsford, pulls a small gun out of her Birkin bag and shoots him in the face.
Four years later, a struggling actor, Wally Nash, is at Triax Global Insurance, interviewing for a part-time gig assisting one of the company’s investigators who turns out to be Bixby. Although Bixby still has the ability to dissect the design world and determine the cause of accidents or solve crimes, as a result of the shooting he suffers from traumatic coprolalia, a rare disability. The injury to the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that deals with impulse control, causes Bixby to often say or do something that can offend others. Melissa Priddle, Triax senior vice president of investigations, tells Nash his job would be to run interference and, if he can’t stop what Bixby does, then to smooth things over afterwards.
Bixby has churned through nearly a dozen helpers, including a ventriloquist with a dummy. Nash isn’t sure he can do the job, or even wants to try. But one visit to Bixby’s home changes his mind. Bixby’s parents, also brilliant and creative, were killed in an automobile accident. At a young age, Bixby was able to figure out that the car’s design was responsible for his parents’ death. He sued Monarch Motors, CalTrans, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the County of Los Angeles, and the National Transportation Safety Board. The settlement, and the estate Bixby inherited, has left him very wealthy. The mansion, left to him by his parents, is a cross between Disneyland and Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Nash also learns that he can live rent-free in a bungalow on the property.
On his first day at the compound, Nash finds Bixby swimming in a pond. When asked if he wants coffee and breakfast, Nash is told to pull one of the levers on a large tree. Out comes coffee and perfectly cooked eggs with toast. Whoa! Nash certainly believes he can handle this job.
Melissa shows up and, after helping herself to pancakes and orange juice from the tree, she gives Bixby his next assignment. Lawrence Keefer, a sixty-seven year old widower, was killed a few nights ago apparently during a home invasion. Already on the scene is LAPD Detective Bridget McGregor, who has “history” with Bixby. It doesn’t take long for Bixby to determine that Keefer wasn’t the victim of a home invasion, but died another way. Nash is, of course, impressed. McGregor just looks annoyed.
The Keefer case, however, is small change. The next one Bixby takes on is more complicated. Caroline Crowley fell down a stairway in a shopping mall, impaled by poles at the bottom. Triad, the insurance company for the mall, is ready to write Crowley’s parents a check to close the case. But Bixby refuses to sign off. He believes Crowley was murdered and proving that will take all the skill he has, along with Nash’s help.
Murder By Design has a terrific plot, great characters, and plenty of humorous dialogue to break up the tension. Nash takes a great deal of ribbing for the pharmaceutical commercials he has filmed, usually involving some sort of intestinal condition, and the “extras” he’s played in detective and medical shows, which usually involve playing dead. And no one does surprise endings like Goldberg. This one is surprising and sets up the Bixby/Nash team for their next outing, which we hope is soon.
Murder by Design
Lee Goldberg
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