How about going off tangent and reading about a sort-of private investigator whose day job is to play the piano in smoky jazz clubs but who loves to solve mysteries in the music world? If you are interested in jazz music and jazz musicians and mysteries in the music world, do check this series out. This book did not give me a buzz like the other crime books I normally read as it is not heavy enough for me although I have enjoyed getting to know a unique character in Evan Horne. Happy reading.
Paperback blurb: Pianist Evan Horne's European interlude lands him a gig in Amsterdam, where the old jazz clubs are alive and well. But here he unexpectedly finds himself reliving the last days of legendary blues trumpeter Chet Baker, who died under mysterious circumstances. Did Baker fall from a hotel balcony or was he pushed? The answers lead Horne on an odyssey into one of the greatest mysteries of the jazz world - and beyond.
Horne's longtime buddy Ace Buffington, in Amsterdam researching the late jazz great's life and tragic death, has disappeared. Ace's trail parallels that of Baker's last days, so Horne does what he does best: improvise. He finds himself following the same path into Baker's dark - even dangerous - past and confronting his own deep-rooted melancholy. In the smoky clubs and on the mean, exotic streets of Amsterdam, Horne hits all the right notes in a world where playing it by heart can make you a legend as easily as it can get you killed.
About the author: Professional jazz drummer Bill Moody has played and/or recorded with Jr Mance, Maynard Ferguson, Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross, and Lou Rawls. He lives in northern California, teaches creative writing at Sonoma State University, and is active in the Bay Area jazz scene with the Terry Henry Trio and Dick Conte's trip and quartet. Looking for Chet Baker is first published in 2002.
Other books in the Evan Horne mystery series are
Solo Hand (1994)
Death of a Tenor Man (1995)
The Sound of the Trumpet (1996)
Bird Lives! (1999)
Shades of Blue (2008)
Fade to Blue (2011)
The New York Times' review.
Mystery Reader's review.
Who's Chet Baker? by Wikipedia.
Rating: 2/5
This sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnn