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Singer Brown #1
Long Gone Man
Singer Brown’s life takes a nosedive after the suspicious death of her lover, Michael, a roadie for a rock band called Vortex. Twenty years later, she is looking for revenge. In a thick fog, a ferry docks on Glenphiddie Island and Singer’s decrepit van unloads. The homeless singer is there to find the man who destroyed her life all those years ago. But she arrives too late. Someone has already killed Vortex’s lead singer, Johnny Vibes. And now the murderer is coming after Singer.
Each of the former band members is hiding sins, both old and new—secrets worth killing for. But Singer has one potential ally: Johnny Vibes’s wife, who has just as much to lose as Singer. While trying to clear her name and solve the mystery of Michael’s death, Singer enters a dangerous and deadly world of jealousy, greed, and murder.
Set in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, this series follows Singer Brown, a homeless woman who sings on the streets for coins and watches life ebb and flow around her. With a knack for being in the right place at the wrong time, Singer is one of society’s invisible people. And being unseen is an incredible advantage to have when you’re digging for secrets.
Each of the former band members is hiding sins, both old and new—secrets worth killing for. But Singer has one potential ally: Johnny Vibes’s wife, who has just as much to lose as Singer. While trying to clear her name and solve the mystery of Michael’s death, Singer enters a dangerous and deadly world of jealousy, greed, and murder.
Set in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, this series follows Singer Brown, a homeless woman who sings on the streets for coins and watches life ebb and flow around her. With a knack for being in the right place at the wrong time, Singer is one of society’s invisible people. And being unseen is an incredible advantage to have when you’re digging for secrets.
- GenresMystery
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 2013
About the author
Phyllis Smallman
19 books55 followersCrime Writers of Canada award winning author, Phyllis Smallman, was short-listed for the Debut Dagger in the UK, and has been awarded both silver and gold medals by the Independent Publishers. She was a potter before turning to a life of crime. She lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, where she golfs badly and writes madly.
Visit http://www.phyllismallman.com to read excerpts from her Singer Brown and Sherri Travis books.
Visit http://www.phyllismallman.com to read excerpts from her Singer Brown and Sherri Travis books.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 16, 2016
Book #1, in the Singer Brown Mysteries
Ms. Smallman definitely writes pretty darned good mysteries. Her popular Sherri Travis series has been an Award winning series for years now. I read all the installments with much interest and stayed captivated all along. In no time I became a huge fan of hers and I stayed faithful from day one.
Although Ms. Smallman is spinning a totally deferent web of intrigue with this new series, her trade mark still shines: a style that is sharp, funny and keeps a steady pace throughout. While moving her action from the sunny beaches of Florida leaving bartender Sherri behind she leads us to the beautiful BC coast of Canada and is introducing us to an eccentric new character Singer Brown, a hippie living in a beat-up van, who sings on the street for coins and nurses an old hate from the time she joined a rock band way back during the flower child era. Singer has an obsession: Johnny, a man she hates and plans to kill after she steps on Glenphiddie Island where he lives. Hold and behold someone has already beaten her to the task and not long after her arrival she finds herself at the wrong end of the stick …..I will say no more……
When you have suspense doled up in addictive doses that provides lots of excitement and intrigue, which has tidbits of scary stuff including spectacular sceneries, one where the drama is played out by original charismatic characters, and to top it all up you find a stirring love story you have in your hands a pretty good book. This is what “Long Gone Man” has to offer.
A caution: You need to pay attention as bits of the story are revealed chapter by chapter and more and more characters are added to the mix with their own stories. In this nasty web of intrigue some of threads are left to our imagination till the very end……
This is a gripping story from start to finish.
Ms. Smallman definitely writes pretty darned good mysteries. Her popular Sherri Travis series has been an Award winning series for years now. I read all the installments with much interest and stayed captivated all along. In no time I became a huge fan of hers and I stayed faithful from day one.
Although Ms. Smallman is spinning a totally deferent web of intrigue with this new series, her trade mark still shines: a style that is sharp, funny and keeps a steady pace throughout. While moving her action from the sunny beaches of Florida leaving bartender Sherri behind she leads us to the beautiful BC coast of Canada and is introducing us to an eccentric new character Singer Brown, a hippie living in a beat-up van, who sings on the street for coins and nurses an old hate from the time she joined a rock band way back during the flower child era. Singer has an obsession: Johnny, a man she hates and plans to kill after she steps on Glenphiddie Island where he lives. Hold and behold someone has already beaten her to the task and not long after her arrival she finds herself at the wrong end of the stick …..I will say no more……
When you have suspense doled up in addictive doses that provides lots of excitement and intrigue, which has tidbits of scary stuff including spectacular sceneries, one where the drama is played out by original charismatic characters, and to top it all up you find a stirring love story you have in your hands a pretty good book. This is what “Long Gone Man” has to offer.
A caution: You need to pay attention as bits of the story are revealed chapter by chapter and more and more characters are added to the mix with their own stories. In this nasty web of intrigue some of threads are left to our imagination till the very end……
This is a gripping story from start to finish.
April 4, 2014
Long Gone Man
By Phyllis Smallman
ISBN: 9781771510301
A 2013 trade paper release
From Touchwood Books
From the very first sentence, readers will sense they are in the hands of a master storyteller. With discerning eye and sensitivity to the feelings of a stressed woman, we land in a decrepit Dodge van laboring up a narrow, twisting, fog-enshrouded mountain road toward an unknown destination and what is meant to be a long-overdue confrontation. The driver is Singer Brown, a down-on-her-luck itinerant street busker with a history of travel and living on the street, of singing curbside for the change of passers-by. Like many of her ilk she’s had her ups and downs, including club gigs with bands as well as solo stands.
As she struggles tensely up the mountain road we learn of a long-festering hatred that drives her on toward this mountain peak on an island off the British Columbia coast. Glenphiddie Island is home to a band leader singer Brown encountered many years ago far to the south in Taos, New Mexico.
When Brown finally reaches her destination, toward the top of the mountain, she encounters another highly stressed woman holding a gun, a woman whose husband, the band leader, lies dead of a gunshot to the head. Readers will already have had some intimation of layered mystery and several relationships in disarray. Members of the band Vortex, all of who live in proximity, are fading into career-ending oblivion, yet their controlling leader holds them in iron fingers.
There are other strands, bits of which are revealed chapter after chapter, including a stirring love story. Readers will have to pay attention as the suspense builds and more and more relationships and conditions are revealed. One never understands completely or sees the entire nasty web until the fog is finally swept away and the true character of all the players is revealed in a classic confrontation.
I thought the author could have done a bit more with the location, an area of spectacular vistas and seascapes, and surprising if minor actions involve some police figures. A few wisps of foggy threads are left to the imaginations of readers. The changeling, enigmatic central figure of Singer Brown is precisely characterized with murky strength and occasional clarity of purpose. She is a wonderfully sympathetic figure. I look forward to more from this excellent writer.
By Phyllis Smallman
ISBN: 9781771510301
A 2013 trade paper release
From Touchwood Books
From the very first sentence, readers will sense they are in the hands of a master storyteller. With discerning eye and sensitivity to the feelings of a stressed woman, we land in a decrepit Dodge van laboring up a narrow, twisting, fog-enshrouded mountain road toward an unknown destination and what is meant to be a long-overdue confrontation. The driver is Singer Brown, a down-on-her-luck itinerant street busker with a history of travel and living on the street, of singing curbside for the change of passers-by. Like many of her ilk she’s had her ups and downs, including club gigs with bands as well as solo stands.
As she struggles tensely up the mountain road we learn of a long-festering hatred that drives her on toward this mountain peak on an island off the British Columbia coast. Glenphiddie Island is home to a band leader singer Brown encountered many years ago far to the south in Taos, New Mexico.
When Brown finally reaches her destination, toward the top of the mountain, she encounters another highly stressed woman holding a gun, a woman whose husband, the band leader, lies dead of a gunshot to the head. Readers will already have had some intimation of layered mystery and several relationships in disarray. Members of the band Vortex, all of who live in proximity, are fading into career-ending oblivion, yet their controlling leader holds them in iron fingers.
There are other strands, bits of which are revealed chapter after chapter, including a stirring love story. Readers will have to pay attention as the suspense builds and more and more relationships and conditions are revealed. One never understands completely or sees the entire nasty web until the fog is finally swept away and the true character of all the players is revealed in a classic confrontation.
I thought the author could have done a bit more with the location, an area of spectacular vistas and seascapes, and surprising if minor actions involve some police figures. A few wisps of foggy threads are left to the imaginations of readers. The changeling, enigmatic central figure of Singer Brown is precisely characterized with murky strength and occasional clarity of purpose. She is a wonderfully sympathetic figure. I look forward to more from this excellent writer.
December 27, 2020
After a confusing and slow start I really enjoyed this mystery, set on an island.
The writing is very powerful, especially during Singer's drive up and down the mountain.
Singer is a street vocalist and musician who has decided to confront the leader of the Vortex, the band she was singing with when her lover disappears twenty years ago in Taos, New Mexico. As she arrives at the mountain top where John lives, she discovers him dead with just his widow in the house with him.
Singer and Lauren decide that they will be each other's alibi, even though neither of them were in the house at the time. Since the murder weapon is missing, the police investigate this as a murder not a suicide.
The cast of characters are mostly from the old band, who toured with only one hit for many years.
This is told in 64 short chapters which adds to the tension as the story develops.
I purchased a copy and look forward to reading more in this series.
The writing is very powerful, especially during Singer's drive up and down the mountain.
Singer is a street vocalist and musician who has decided to confront the leader of the Vortex, the band she was singing with when her lover disappears twenty years ago in Taos, New Mexico. As she arrives at the mountain top where John lives, she discovers him dead with just his widow in the house with him.
Singer and Lauren decide that they will be each other's alibi, even though neither of them were in the house at the time. Since the murder weapon is missing, the police investigate this as a murder not a suicide.
The cast of characters are mostly from the old band, who toured with only one hit for many years.
This is told in 64 short chapters which adds to the tension as the story develops.
I purchased a copy and look forward to reading more in this series.
May 11, 2022
This was a very well written story. As I read along I felt that it was a movie script. The author painted the scenes so that they were vivid in your mind - at least as vivid as a dense Pacific Northwest foggy road can be, which makes the details all the more significant. The story was complex, with a backstory that evolved throughout the telling. The characters had interesting entanglements.
If you love interesting mysteries which can reveal many possible outcomes but slowly whittle them down to an obvious final conclusion - give this one a read.
If you love interesting mysteries which can reveal many possible outcomes but slowly whittle them down to an obvious final conclusion - give this one a read.
October 24, 2013
Never Underestimate an Invisible Woman
It takes confidence for an established series author to leave a comfort zone and stretch the boundaries. Phyllis Smallman’s Florida amateur-sleuth series has won accolades in Canada and the US. Now she challenges herself with a new series and a new woman, a bit worn at the edges like a cherished Ghurka leather hold-all but ready to take on the world to fight for those who can’t. Singer Brown can blend into the scenery and observe what others can’t see. But when she gets involved, rough justice is sure to follow.
Forty-six and with forty-five bucks in her pocket, Singer finds herself getting off a third ferry on a little-known island in the Strait of Georgia in scenic but wild British Columbia. Gathering her nerve, she climbs through the treacherous fog on a “short cut” to Mount Skeena where the gravel roads have no signs: “Her old van rattled down narrow rutted tracks…she found, quite by accident, a narrow switchback road that led up the mountain. Arriving late at night would give her the added element of surprise. This time she knew she was going to triumph. That’s when the fog closed in and her terror began.” Are her fears real or imagined? Does danger lurk in human form, or is nature only asserting its own? One thing for sure: it’s not the big city.
Who could resist waiting for the next screen in a Thirties Noir film? What is her real mission? Does the answer lead back twenty years to a barren desert site? Smallman knows how to dole out suspense in addictive doses.
Singer leaves her beaten-up van hanging over a cliff and takes off with her backpack into the unrelenting, animal fog. “A dog barked. At least she thought it was a dog, but the fog distorted and changed the high-pitched sound. Was it up ahead or behind her?” Only those on the coast recognize this disorientation. Smallman spends half her year on Saltspring Island.
When she arrives at a haven, the door opens in front of a woman with a gun. “Come in,” her hostess says, as the chapter ends. In the words of the late Spenser, “You’d be a fool not to.”
A dead man lies in the den? And it’s someone from her youthful past who asked her to come, or so she says. A man with a band. Her former band. Now he’s dead, rich, and crossed off someone’s hit list. Singer finds herself searching for alibis. The woman is his much younger and last wife. Two cats appraise each other. The phrase “Age and treachery overcome youth and stamina” comes to mind.
Most of that band has gathered round this Svengali, so once the news is out, they join the group, and it’s up to Singer to plumb their motivations. The puzzled RCMP hardly knows what to make of this woman who lives in a broken down van she calls Beastie, battling against too many challenges and busking for change. There’s a powerful force within this talented woman who has lost most of the breaks in life but bears fortune no ill will. She has clawed herself back from the abyss too many times. Those responsible are another matter entirely. Has she come to settle a score or make one?
“He was beautiful when I knew him, twenty years ago.” That’s the best she can say of the dead man. Many have made bucket-list trips like this, only to find out that things were not as they seemed.
The beginning is like a locked-room mystery. Plenty of candidates emerge, and the attacks from outside continue. No one is what who they seem to be. “We can alibi each other” sounds like a bargain made in hell. And why does Johnny keep a loaded gun in every room? His spectacular home is a castle under siege.
Smallman captures the isolation and insular nature of an island. Refuge or prison? The sole village, and there must be one, is friendly and hostile at the same time. A café caters to the summer crowd. But what happens when they leave? A family on its best behavior turns on itself when the window shades drop.
Given her nature, Singer has many adventures ahead. Talented, but rough at the edges, she resembles a torch singer down on her luck. She may have a heart of gold, but cross her at your own risk. She’s the perfect mirror to show the true reflections of whoever surrounds her. This new series is a shade darker than the first, but the inimitable voice is the same. You are in good hands.
It takes confidence for an established series author to leave a comfort zone and stretch the boundaries. Phyllis Smallman’s Florida amateur-sleuth series has won accolades in Canada and the US. Now she challenges herself with a new series and a new woman, a bit worn at the edges like a cherished Ghurka leather hold-all but ready to take on the world to fight for those who can’t. Singer Brown can blend into the scenery and observe what others can’t see. But when she gets involved, rough justice is sure to follow.
Forty-six and with forty-five bucks in her pocket, Singer finds herself getting off a third ferry on a little-known island in the Strait of Georgia in scenic but wild British Columbia. Gathering her nerve, she climbs through the treacherous fog on a “short cut” to Mount Skeena where the gravel roads have no signs: “Her old van rattled down narrow rutted tracks…she found, quite by accident, a narrow switchback road that led up the mountain. Arriving late at night would give her the added element of surprise. This time she knew she was going to triumph. That’s when the fog closed in and her terror began.” Are her fears real or imagined? Does danger lurk in human form, or is nature only asserting its own? One thing for sure: it’s not the big city.
Who could resist waiting for the next screen in a Thirties Noir film? What is her real mission? Does the answer lead back twenty years to a barren desert site? Smallman knows how to dole out suspense in addictive doses.
Singer leaves her beaten-up van hanging over a cliff and takes off with her backpack into the unrelenting, animal fog. “A dog barked. At least she thought it was a dog, but the fog distorted and changed the high-pitched sound. Was it up ahead or behind her?” Only those on the coast recognize this disorientation. Smallman spends half her year on Saltspring Island.
When she arrives at a haven, the door opens in front of a woman with a gun. “Come in,” her hostess says, as the chapter ends. In the words of the late Spenser, “You’d be a fool not to.”
A dead man lies in the den? And it’s someone from her youthful past who asked her to come, or so she says. A man with a band. Her former band. Now he’s dead, rich, and crossed off someone’s hit list. Singer finds herself searching for alibis. The woman is his much younger and last wife. Two cats appraise each other. The phrase “Age and treachery overcome youth and stamina” comes to mind.
Most of that band has gathered round this Svengali, so once the news is out, they join the group, and it’s up to Singer to plumb their motivations. The puzzled RCMP hardly knows what to make of this woman who lives in a broken down van she calls Beastie, battling against too many challenges and busking for change. There’s a powerful force within this talented woman who has lost most of the breaks in life but bears fortune no ill will. She has clawed herself back from the abyss too many times. Those responsible are another matter entirely. Has she come to settle a score or make one?
“He was beautiful when I knew him, twenty years ago.” That’s the best she can say of the dead man. Many have made bucket-list trips like this, only to find out that things were not as they seemed.
The beginning is like a locked-room mystery. Plenty of candidates emerge, and the attacks from outside continue. No one is what who they seem to be. “We can alibi each other” sounds like a bargain made in hell. And why does Johnny keep a loaded gun in every room? His spectacular home is a castle under siege.
Smallman captures the isolation and insular nature of an island. Refuge or prison? The sole village, and there must be one, is friendly and hostile at the same time. A café caters to the summer crowd. But what happens when they leave? A family on its best behavior turns on itself when the window shades drop.
Given her nature, Singer has many adventures ahead. Talented, but rough at the edges, she resembles a torch singer down on her luck. She may have a heart of gold, but cross her at your own risk. She’s the perfect mirror to show the true reflections of whoever surrounds her. This new series is a shade darker than the first, but the inimitable voice is the same. You are in good hands.
September 3, 2013
I won a copy of "Long Gone Man" by Phyllis Smallman through the Goodreads Giveaway Contest. This was a fast-paced mystery...a real whodunit, where the killer is not revealed until the very end.
It was their song, "Long Gone Man", Michael's words and Singer's music. This song would make them famous. But it was not meant to happen. Twenty years ago, Singer Brown (Ace)was a singer in Johnny's band, "Vortex" a mediocre band with one megahit "Long Gone Man", trying to make a comeback. Michael, the roadie had disappeared in Taos. Johnny and the other band members had headed off to Las Vegas to make their mark.
Singer, now forty six had waited twenty years to find out the truth...What had happened to Michael? Singer had stalked Johnny for years, wanting to confront him with this question. She was living in Vancouver, and no longer had her guitar, which provided her livelihood, she only had her old Dodge, she called "Beastie", less than fifty dollars in cash and her backpack, and she lived in her car.
When Singer found out that Johnny Vibald was living on Glenphiddie Island, she decided to make the trip, which involved three ferries, and a steep trip up the mountain. Beastie eventually broke down, and she was forced to walk the rest of the way, carrying just her backpack. When she arrives at the cedar log house, she was met at the door by a young woman, the wife, Lauren and a gun. Inside was a man on the floor...He had been shot in the head and his name was Johnny Vibald. She was too late!
Lauren tells Singer she didn't kill her husband, and Singer believes her. Singer suggests that they could both provide each other with an alibi, by saying they were both together. They just had to stick to the same story...but could Singer trust this woman?
The police/mounties were on their way, Corporal Duncan and Sgt. Wilmot. The coroner was delayed based on the fog, coming from Victoria. In the interim, they started photographing the scene and gathering the evidence.
But Lauren and Singer aren't the only ones with motive and opportunity...there were lots of other players. Each one of the band members is hiding secrets...and now the killer is coming after Singer.
This was a fast-paced mystery novel that was gripping from start to finish.
It was their song, "Long Gone Man", Michael's words and Singer's music. This song would make them famous. But it was not meant to happen. Twenty years ago, Singer Brown (Ace)was a singer in Johnny's band, "Vortex" a mediocre band with one megahit "Long Gone Man", trying to make a comeback. Michael, the roadie had disappeared in Taos. Johnny and the other band members had headed off to Las Vegas to make their mark.
Singer, now forty six had waited twenty years to find out the truth...What had happened to Michael? Singer had stalked Johnny for years, wanting to confront him with this question. She was living in Vancouver, and no longer had her guitar, which provided her livelihood, she only had her old Dodge, she called "Beastie", less than fifty dollars in cash and her backpack, and she lived in her car.
When Singer found out that Johnny Vibald was living on Glenphiddie Island, she decided to make the trip, which involved three ferries, and a steep trip up the mountain. Beastie eventually broke down, and she was forced to walk the rest of the way, carrying just her backpack. When she arrives at the cedar log house, she was met at the door by a young woman, the wife, Lauren and a gun. Inside was a man on the floor...He had been shot in the head and his name was Johnny Vibald. She was too late!
Lauren tells Singer she didn't kill her husband, and Singer believes her. Singer suggests that they could both provide each other with an alibi, by saying they were both together. They just had to stick to the same story...but could Singer trust this woman?
The police/mounties were on their way, Corporal Duncan and Sgt. Wilmot. The coroner was delayed based on the fog, coming from Victoria. In the interim, they started photographing the scene and gathering the evidence.
But Lauren and Singer aren't the only ones with motive and opportunity...there were lots of other players. Each one of the band members is hiding secrets...and now the killer is coming after Singer.
This was a fast-paced mystery novel that was gripping from start to finish.
December 19, 2013
I am a big fan of Phyllis's Sherri Travis series which is set in Florida, but was really doubtful of this character at first. I soon changed my tune when I found myself unable to put the book down to deal with my life from time to time, lol. Great story and characters, and I especially like that the story was set here in Canada on a fictitious Gulf Island. I look forward to the next installment in this series.
July 29, 2014
Long Gone Man is one of those "you can't put the book down" novels. The characters are intriguing, both likeable and not. You h ave someone to cheer for and someone to rant against. The novel is fast paced and tense with a sense of humour weaved throughout. Smallman has a way of making the reader as if like they are in motion with the novel. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the Singer Brown Mystery Series.
September 2, 2013
I received this book free as a Goodreads give-away. I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast-paced who-done-it story. It had you hanging on to the very end. Every one had a reason to kill Johnny,everyone had the means and opportunity, but who did it and why? I always pride myself on figuring it all out. This one kept me guessing until the very end.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews