Too Dead to Swing: A Katy Green Mystery

by Hal Glatzer

It's 1940, and musician Katy Green gets what ought to be a dream gig, playing with the Ultra Belles-an all-female swing band. They travel by Pullman on the luxurious Starlight from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. So what if the songwriter is Katy's exboyfriend, and a notorious Casanova? So what if half the women are mad at the other half over politics, music, and sex? There are tensions and rivalries in every band. But that's not the worst of it. Katy quickly discovers that somebody's out for blood.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Born and raised in Manhattan, Glatzer went to public schools, the Bronx High School of Science, Syracuse University for a BA in English, and the University of Hawaii for an MA in Communication. But his writing career began in daily journalism. As a newspaper and television reporter in the 1970s, he found his ideal beat covering the “silicon revolution,” the rise of communication satellites, small computers and other personal electronic devices. He wrote four nonfiction books on those subjects which were published in the ’80s, and stayed on the high-tech beat until the mid-’90s, when—ironically—the internet killed the market for “computer magazines.” But he got his first mystery novel out of that beat. THE TRAPDOOR, about a hacker who gets in trouble hacking for organized crime, was published in 1986.

When Glatzer is not working as an author, he works as a musician, playing jazz guitar and singing “the Great American Songbook” from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway.

Reviews

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 1940 in a all-girl swing band. Perhaps slightly on the ho-hum side, but not at all bad. The historical setting was good - I liked the period postcards of the various (real) places the band played while on tour. The characters were a little thin, but fun. The mystery was reasonably mysterious, although I found the solution a bit muddy. Anyhow, maybe 3.5 stars. I’d read another.

[Polly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty darned good mystery! Listened to it from Audible, and it was well done, with music. Complicated mystery, plus a good story.

[Mellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This murder mystery by Hal Glatzer is a novelization of his radio mystery by the same name. In this fun and fast paced novel, swing musician Katie Greene tours California by train as the violinist and saxophonist of an all-girl band lead by lothario band-leader Ted Nywatt. Violent and mysterious accidents happen to several of the girls in the band on a week long tour through L.A., Oakland, Lake Tahoe, and points between. The moral of the story is something your mom always told you never to do.

It's 1940 and the story includes many elements from this era: the Gallop polls, the end of the depression, Hitler, the impending war, Pullman train cars, historic hotels, the politics of Roosevelt and the Communist party, as well as music, musicians, and vocabulary from the swing era.

2012 #9

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun 1940s setting!