Rhapsody in Blood

Benjamin Justice #7

by John Morgan Wilson

Disgraced journalist Benjamin Justice, at loose ends between jobs, takes a short vacation with a friend, Los Angeles Times reporter Alexandra Templeton, to a movie set at a faded resort hotel in the California desert. The film being shot is about a star's death in the 1950's and the lynching of a local black man for the murder--the last lynching in California. But the set is in an uproar over the appearance--and then the brutal murder--of a feared Hollywood gossip journalist who had promised to reveal 'explosive' new information. Now Justice finds himself enmeshed in two old deaths and a new murder as he attempts to uncover the truth before another falls victim.

Genres: Mystery, LGBT, Gay, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Crime

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2006

About the author

John Morgan Wilson is the author of several novels in the Benjamin Justice series as well as two co-written books with band leader Peter Duchin. He's the winner of the Edgar Award and three-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for the Benjamin Justice novels. He lives in West Hollywood, CA.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is a complex, captivating mystery that approaches to teach lessons about the dangers of bigotry and the shallowness of some people, and how dangerous both can be affecting how we deal with our everyday lives. The author takes the character out of his cozy nest in West Hollywood, teaming him with longtime friend, LA Times reported Alexandra Templeton, covering the shooting of a movie at a historic hotel in the remote town of Eternal Springs, now known as "Haunted Springs" due to two murders that took place there, and which is the focus of the film being made. They meet the cast, including the 30ish male lead...a frequent subject of tabloid rumors about his sexuality whose seeming interest in Benjamin has him simultaneously flattered and flustered. When another reporter, known for her merciless "expose'" stories about celebrities, is found murdered with her throat cut (the same as the two victims that are the subject of the film), Benjamin finds himself in the middle of the mystery, with no shortage of colorful suspects around for him to choose from. Was the murderer the actor, who feared the reporter would try to "out" him, or perhaps it was the rapper with the "gangsta" image who seemed to alienate everyone, or the troublemaker midget stuntman, the hotel owner living with a troubling secret from his past, or perhaps it was the ghostlike female figure Benjamin saw on the rocks outside the hotel window, right before the murder took place? Lots of suspects all providing a really good mystery.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhapsody in Blood is seventh in a series of novels, in which the progatonist Benjamin Justice grows older book by book. It’s probably good to read the stories in order, but this one stands alone, with a slightly aging protagonist travelling as the plus one with his friend to a resort hotel where a movie is being made. The movie portrays a long-ago murder and the lynching of the killer. But some of the actors may have other things on their minds. And they may not all survive.

All of which leaves more than one death to be resolved, and many prejudices to be questioned. It’s a well-told story with convincing characters, and a slow-burning, complex read.

Disclosure: I’m not sure I’ll look for others in the series, but I enjoyed this one.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benjamin Justice is supposed to be on a relaxing get away at a hotel with a friend while she covers the making of a movie about actress Rebecca Fox who died in that same hotel years before. Years after that Rebecca’s daughter also dies in the same room that her mother inhabited. Things don’t work out as planned when a gossip columnist shows up and is murdered while occupying the exact same room as Fox and her daughter and on the same date - the Ides of March. Instead of relaxing, Justice is swept up in solving the murder while addressing some of his own personal issues. A complex and interesting novel with a fair number of disturbing characters.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all of Wilson’s Benjamin Justice novels, there are social issues underlying the story in “Rhapsody in Blood”. Here, the issue is the taboos that still linger in our society and how being “in the closet”, any type of closet, can jeopardize a career built on falsehoods. As Alex says in the epilogue, “Slavery, lunching, intolerance, ignorance, hatred, retribution, murder. They’re all part of a chain that’s still unbroken, that maintains its own violent momentum.”

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing up the first draft of his memoir (which should be a definite bestseller since Justice has the most tortured backstory of any fictional character I can think of), Justice agrees to accompany his good friend to a remote hotel where a movie is being shot. Obviously, trouble finds him again. The plot was a bit creaky (very far-fetched for this series) and the writing a bit clunky (a couple of long info dumps probably could have been cut) but I do enjoy the characters and will look forward to the next adventure.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Justice mystery was a bit too Agatha Christie-ish for me. Also, taking Justice out of West Hollywood was a mistake. He seemed less interesting and underwhelming here. The secondary characters were so unappealing that I didn't care whether the mystery was solved or not by the end. I also felt there were some unanswered questions like what happened to the photos of Oakley? I enjoyed many books in Wilson's Justice series, but this one was kind of a disappointment.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really? All the suspects are together in a room? And you're going to apply some pressure to see if you can get one of them to crack? I still enjoy Justice as a character, but I also thik the plots are degenerating somewhat. Also - I would like to actually see him in the process of trying to make a relationship work, not just constantly failing.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more traditional and contrived mystery than the previous books in the Benjamin Justice series, Rhapsody is set in an historical isolated California desert resort hotel where a movie is being made about a murder, a lynching and a later suicide set in the same room.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good gay mystery in which Ben and Templeton stay at a hotel notorious for being the location of the murder of movie star 50 years ago and the suicide of her daughter 25 years later. Templeton's there to report on a film about the movie star's life being shot at the hotel... and then things get messy.

[Lori S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a hotel with a dark past, this one reads more like a cozy than Mr. Wilson's usual stuff. As usual, despite his best intentions, Ben gets caught up in events, helping to solve three murders and a suicide. A pretty fast read in the end.

[Tex Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars – Still Enjoyable But Only In Comparison Not As Strong a Mystery.

[Roger Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as some of his previous work.