Bill Moody is a jazz drummer who knows his subject inside and out, and his Evan Horne mystery series is packed with jazz trivia. In this book (which, like his earlier Death of a Tenor Man, concerns the death of a real-life jazz great) lost tapes of long-dead trumpet player Clifford Brown turn up in Las Vegas, and a collector is murdered for them. Horne, a former jazz pianist, wants to find the truth about the tapes as well as the killer. His search leads him down various Jazz Alleys and Memory Lanes.
Bill Moody is a mystery author and professional jazz drummer. He is the author of Shades of Blue, Looking for Chet Baker, Bird Lives! and three other Evan Horne novels.
The Moody's Evan Horne series reaches new heights and gives mystery and jazz fans more excitement and joy with this installment. The plot once again revolves around a jazz great who died too young (though the mystery does not concern the musician's death per se, as in Death of a Tenor Man). Horne is called to Las Vegas to authenticate some recordings supposedly made by the legendary trumpeter Clifford Brown just before his untimely death in a 1956 auto crash. An unexpected bonus is a trumpet with the initials C.B. engraved in the bell. But the listening session ends in the murder of one of the music collectors involved and as Horne investigates, he begins to wonder if the whole affair isn't really an elaborate hoax. Moody immerses the reader in the arcane and highly competitive world of collectors looking for rare prizes. In addition, I love the "interludes" that take us back to the life of Clifford Brown on the road in the final days before his death. Highly recommended!
I am not into jazz but I thoroughly enjoy this series.
Evan Horne is brought to Las Vegas to listen to a music tape from the 1950's containing a previously undiscovered recording session. The host wants to know if it is Clifford Brown on trumpet. Evan thinks it might be, but as he is waiting for his hosts to determine if he has earned his "fee" one of them is killed.
I enjoyed the process Horne goes through to hunt down the artists on the tape, verify that the tape is legitimate and return stolen property to their rightful owners.