What a pleasure to immerse myself in my two favorite worlds: jazz, and mystery writing! Bill Moody has the perfect background for both, and extensive credentials in each. In this latest work, Evan Horne, his jazz pianist protag, is hired by the agent for Ryan Stiles, a hot new movie star, one widely considered to be Hollywood royalty [“a new Robert Redford, exuding charm”], to teach Stiles how to look as though he is an accomplished jazz piano player in a new film. [To further entice him, he is asked to score the film, and to stay at the actor’s Malibu beach house in the process – an enviable gig, to be sure.] This is not a new concept – examples given are “Bird” and Forest Whittaker, “Ray” and Jamie Foxx, Frank Sinatra with “Man with the Golden Arm” [a long time ago, that one, I realize].
Evan, who describes himself as a sometime detective [see prior entries in the series], is now living in Monte Rio, in northern California, but makes the not-hard-to-take transition to the Malibu scene. Part of the equation, and the price, is putting up with paparazzi at every turn, with one particularly obnoxious photographer being excessively annoying and confrontational. But when that photographer goes missing, the police, and Evan as well, suspect that Stiles may have played a role in his disappearance. Ultimately there are two fatalities, which could easily have both been murders, or accidents. Evan is assisted by the two people closest to him, FBI Special Agent Andrea (“Andie”) Lawrence, and Lt. Dan Cooper (“Coop”) of the Santa Monica Police. Stiles even agrees to hire Coop for the duration as head of security on the movie set.
In addition to the solid mystery, there are frequent musical and, in particular, jazz references, including one to Yoshi’s, a beloved S.F. mecca for jazz lovers/musicians alike [I’d forgotten that there were two establishments bearing that name, the second being in Oakland], and invaluable little-known and fascinating anecdotes referencing jazz legends such as [Thelonius] Monk and Bill Evans. Things take a sudden and ominous turn when a case from Evan’s past comes back to haunt him, in unforeseeable ways. The book is consistently enjoyable on many levels, and is recommended.
