MUSIC
Music is said to calm the raging beast, but in mystery novels music can be a major factor in the crime scene. Mysteries illustrate how fierce competition can be among performers. In classical music settings competitors may come from many nations. In large cities and small towns across the United States rhythm and blues, rock, jazz and country bands compete for gigs. A gig may be private; weddings and other celebrations often include live music. Theaters, cruise ships, many places where people go to be entertained provide music. For the musicians and for the various venues that hire them, difficulties abound. Music styles reflect the people, the times in which they live, and their backgrounds. Whatever the style, music draws on the emotions of the listeners who respond to the drama of opera music, dance to the tunes of a big band, relate to the joy and the blues of jazz. Underlying the music may be serious problems. In some settings hot music stirs emotions that can lead to trouble. Audiences can become overwrought. Traveling musicians, even those who are handsomely paid, are under a great deal of strain. The leader of a band is the one with the greatest recognition, but the one who has the responsibility of dealing with multiple relationships among players, financiers, and audiences. As mystery writers of novels with musical themes show, music can lead to crime.Duchin, Peter, musician and Wilson, John Morgan author, Good Morning Heartbreak Philip Damon, high society band leader,is in Los Angeles where his band is to play at Coconut Grove. In 1965 he is tired of hearing the music of the Beatles. He becomes involved in events that are rooted in the past. When a murder occurs, he works with African-American detective Hercules Pratt who is challenged by the racial segregation of the period. The story unfolds in a Hollywood background of famous people and movie-making of the period. Change is everywhere, will Philip decide to include a Beatles song in the band's performances?
Elias, Gerald, author, is a professional violinist and a professor of music. Devil's Tale, 2010, is partly the story of the Piccolino Stradivarius, a three-quarter size violin, made by the master himself in 1708. Stradivarius designed it for a very small man who, sadly, did not live long enough to play it. The scene shifts to present times, when a young prodigy wins a competition and the right to play the violin in a public performance. Somehow the violin goes missing. Daniel Jacob, a blind, old, withdrawn musician and his student, young woman Yumi Shinagawa, become involved. The inner workings of the musical world with its intense competition is a great background for a mystery.
Frommer, Sara Hoskinson, The Vanishing Violinist 1999. Jane Spenser is a widow who has a romantic interest, Detective Lieutenant Fred Lundqist. At the quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Jane and the Lieutenant encounter challenges in solving crime that arises as the players vie to win the money award, the widespread recognition and the resulting ivitations to perform. Jane knows her own playing is amateur; she only performs for local audiences, yet she understands the brilliance of the contenders and the pain of the competition.
Fulmer, David, Chasing the Devil's Tail 2001. This mystery is set in Storyville, New Orleans, circa 1890s. The novel presents a map that is necessary to understanding the people and events in this notorious area which consists of 6 streets with 4 cross streets. Men are attracted to Storyville, where women were "abandoned to lewdness". Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr is a private investigator; he is paid by Tom Anderson, political boss. The place and the era come alive for the reader in scenes that bring the spirit of the place to the reader: "They sat in the shade of a live oak. The day was hazy with heat and from around the Charity Hospital, the band is playing." That is day, but at night in Storyville the ladies entertain, overseen by the madams and the "fancy" men. Against this backdrop, St. Cyr investigates a series of events involving characters like King Bolden, whose red hot jazz is legendary.
Grabien, Deborah. Rock&Roll Never Forgets 2008. Guitarist J.P.Kincaid heads Blacklight, a very successful rock band. J.P. has multiple sclerosis, but continues to travel and perform. His musicians know how to cover up when his disease is affecting his playing. In his life two women figure prominently, a long time girl friend and a long time wife. Jets, expensive clothes, elite hotels are part of the travel benefits for the band. The relationships of band members with each other and with organizers of musical events can be tense. Evil from the past and in the present haunts J.P, who tells the story. The threat of a tabloid printing events from the past leads to crime. The rock music background is authentic: author Deborah Grabien is a guitarist, an "all around rocker chick."
Glazer, Hal Too Dead to Swing 2002 The characters are women musicians in an all swing band, The Ultra Belles. Hal Glazer's introduction tells about Hannah Dobryn. In World War II Hannah was a writer of and a performer in USO shows, thus using her skills as an author and as a trained musician. From 1947 to 1951 she wrote the Katy Green mysteries. Her success was limited as publishers wanted heroes, not a clever, self-reliant female detective. In 1994 writer Hal Glatzer learned that Hannah had died, leaving her manuscripts to him. Hal first adapted one of the mysteries into script form, producing it as an audio play with a Broadway cast. He then put it into novel form in 2000 and found a publisher, aptly named Perseverance Press. The lively heroine, Katy Green, leads the band and solves the mystery. The story is full of entertaining events and intimate descriptions of performers' needs, such as "the full gown of sleek maroon satin cut on the bias with a zipper up the left side so the performer can get out of it alone".
Holmes, Rupert Swing A Mystery 2005. The deluxe edition of this novel includes an original Big Band CD, with extra musical cues. Set in 1940, the book provides a map of Treasure Island,part of the great San Francisco Worlds Fair. he information is essential to the story. This is the peak of the Big Band era. The dialogue includes musical expressions like a dal segno al coda , a body of written musical instruction and da capo, take it from the top. The background and the characters come to life as the band bus travels to California, to the Hotel Claremont, at the corner of Oakland and Berkeley. The leader of the band gets a business proposal from Gail Prentice who is working her way through the Berkeley School of Music. Soon he is involved in a mystery. He gets along with the Treasure Island Division of the Oakland Police that he says is "substantial and sensible". In fact,their interview room was so clean and spare that Quakers "would have deemed it modest".
Husworth, Cathi The Singer 2007. Punk rock is music meant to rouse the audience to a high level of reaction. This novel has great descriptions, for instance of a performer whose "head is a black crown of soaped-up spikes, four inches long, liable to have someone's eye out" and "round his neck" was a "dog collar" fashioned of home made tatoos. The music features voodoo pounding, guitar shrieking. The audience reacts in a frenzy. The story is told in segments that occur in different time periods, starting in 1971 when Vincent Smith met Steve Mullin and Lynton Scott at a Sex Pistols concert. They formed a punk rock band, Blood Truth. In 1981 journalist Eddie Bracknell, writing a crime novel, tries to fit together much of what happened. The story goes on from there.
Rhett MacPherson The Blood Ballad 2008. Torie O'Shea is the investigator when crime occurs in New Kassel, Missouri. Her many activities illustrate how her mind is attracted to finding answers. Her interest in past history leads her to examine an old recording. The question she has: was her grandfather the writer for the Morgan Family Players? After all, grandpa had been one of the premier fiddle players of Southeast Missouri during the 1920s. Tori learns more about the history of bluegrass and the style of picking the banjo that dates back to grandpa's playing with the Morgan family. Torie's interests extend to other local matters such as her support for a museum to house women's textile arts. The nice young sheriff, Mort Joachim, is willing to learn from her as she is a local knowledge resource valuable to a law enforcement officer. Torie and Mort have time to solve crime and enjoy music.
Roz Southey Chords and Discords 2008. Set In New Castle, England, year 1738, Charles Patterson, a professional musician, finds himself struggling financially as it is out of season for visitors and so jobs are scarce. Charles is a harpsichordist, whose father played the pipe organ in the village church. Charles also has a talent for solving crimes. So in the cold, wet, and windy March, when the music gigs are not frequent,Charles accepts a commission - to find a scoundrel who is responsible for threats. Could this be the work of a spirit? Charles must solve the crime and find work with his harpsichord.
Truman, Margaret. Murder at the Opera 2006. The Washington National Opera is the backdrop against which Mac Smith and Annabel Reed-Smith work together to solve a crime. They also support community events. Mac, a Georgetown professor who teaches criminal law, is asked to don a loin cloth and appearin a performance of an opera, not to sing, but to be an extra, a soldier carrying a spear. Humor, great description, good plots and stories of what happens behind the scenes in Washington are characteristics of the series of mysteries by Ms. Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman.
Dance People respond to music not only with emotion but also with their bodies. Dance performance has many of the delights and many of the problems of music performance.
Dunnett, Kaitlun. Scone Cold Dead 2008. Lisa MacCrimmins, former dancer who was injured, lives in Moosetookalook, Maine. Her Scottish heritage is evident in the emporium she and her aunt have, called All Things Scottish. Her former dance company, Scottish dance that is, comes to town to perform. The novel describes problems of traveling dance troupes. But the title of the book comes from the problem that occurs when poison is in the cocktail drinks. Lisa finds herself working with Detective Gordon Tandy who asks if she "fancies herself as a modern day Miss Marple.
PERFORMANCE ARTS
Music is the background for performances. Music sets the mood for stage and movie events. In a movie theater the audience's feelings are aroused by the music before the characters appear. Suspense is heightened by the spooky music, joy is increased by song. In a staged play the orchestra in the pit plays music designed to arouse feelings before the curtain opens. On television and certainly on radio, music heightens the intensity of the dramas. Introductory musical themes can become familiar announcements to viewers and listeners, signaling that the story is beginning.Success of a movie a television story, or a Broadway play ultimately depends on the ability of the actors to hold the attention of the audience. Actors are masters of disguise, makeup, voice change, all the techniques that make them appear as characters in dramas. There is hot competition to get the opportunity to act in a fine production or movie. For the writer of mysteries, Hollywood, a New York television studio, and a Broadway theatre are excellent settings.
Capp, Rick The Actor's Guide to Adultery 2004. Jarred Jarvis,investigator, has a lover, Charlie, who is a lawyer. In this novel there is movie talk, a great deal of which is about actors, especially child actors who attract much attention. Sadly, the attention can be from a stalker who was jailed but who completes his sentence and looks for the actor, even though the actor is then an adult.
Clark, May Jane When Day Breaks 2007. The author is a long time writer and producer at CBS News NY headquarters. Familiar with television performance, she is able to bring the reader into the world of the actors, a world not seen by viewers. Competition is great, the cameraman's position is crucial, the director is demanding, and for all there is constant pressure to complete the filming. If only the two hours that the viewer sees was all there was to producing a tv show. Research, prep time, publicity interviews, makeup, costumes, constant observation, making public appearances to keep up interest - everyone concerned works at a high pitch. In the novel when trouble erupts, the investigator is called in.
Craig, Daniel Edward Murder at the Hotel Cinema A new, grand hotel is opening in Hollywood. Trevor Lambert, general manager,is under pressure. A big feature of the night is the scheduled appearance of Chelsey Fricks, young movie celebrity, whose 15 minutes is costing $150,000. The expectant crowd's eyes are on the balcony outside Chelsea's room where rumor has it she will come out. But what happens is not what the crowd anticipates. The surprises and action in this novel are entertaining, as is the Hollywood setting. Only those committed to LA would say "Who would not like Los Angeles, the smog and the shallow people are what make it so wonderful?" From the movie people's point of view, "Los Angeles folks are blessedly unapologetically superficial, tanned, toned, cosmetically enhanced, surgically preserved, and gorgeous." The expected crowds and media gather, hoping to catch glimpses of the stars. To try to protect the famous, the hotel has a Private-Eye-Opti-Scan System. The manager explains that at check-in, the staff take a digital snapshot of the guest's iris, using a handheld device that is like a barcode scanner. The image is then put in the hotel's database along with the profile of the guest. It takes an exact match for the person to be able to open the door to his/her room. Despite such protection, the hotel cannot prevent all crime. Even in Hollywood the main event at the opening is shocking.
Estleman, Loren D. Frames 2008. Valentino, a Hollywood film archivist and consultant, specializes in finding and preserving famous old movies. When a corpse is found in an old structure, he is called in to investigate. He gets assistance from Fanta, a beautiful young woman, athletic, tall, in her jeans and flip-flops. She is a modern graduate student, smart, and computer competent. Her interest is in researching old movies. Two characters, Police Sgt. Clifford who has green eyes and red hair and Harriet Johnson who is blonde with blue eyes, a criminologist, add romancing for Valentino and Fanta to the special effects of this Hollywood story.
Fiffer, Sharon Hollywood Stuff 2006. Stage sets provide background for actors and give information to the audience. Authenticity comes from having knowledgeable people to create the background appropriate to the script and characters. The author of this book is a co-editor of an anthology: "Home: American Writers Remember Rooms of Their Own." In this novel, Jane Wheel, private investigator, has a dual role: mystery writer and amateur sleuth. She also is a collector, who says that when she goes to a Flea Market she "hears the small voices of objects calling to her" and she has to investigate those things. Tom Lowry, her friend and business partner, goes with her to Hollywood when she is asked to work on a film production for Bix Pix Flix, an offbeat independent movie producer. Jane and Tom find the challenges facing them include crime.
Freydont, Shelley Backstage Murder 1999. Lindy Haggerty is getting older. The signs are there, the waistband of her jeans cuts across her stomach. The Rolling Stones must be fifty, she thinks, if they were a day. "Hell, the whole world must be getting older." She is frumpy, frumpy, frumpy, couldn't remember buying designer jeans. Even her brain had the frumps. But her wit is sharp, as she say you know when you take the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey you end up in Outer Mongolia. And she has memories.
Haines, Carolyn Wishbones Sarah Booth Delaney goes to Hollywood from Mississippi for a new life, a shot at being a movie star. She enters a world of competition for a screen test and threats. The scenery includes a mysterious figure and the action includes arson, a break--in, and finding a body in the canyon. Should Sarah try to become an actress or pack up and go home?
Liesche, Margit Hollywood Buzz 2009 During World War II, Pucci Lewis becomes involved in making a documentary on the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) that will show home front participation in the war effort. A pilot herself, she finds suspicious circumstances surrounding a plane crash in which the person she is replacing was hurt. Her capabilities in flying and investigating a crash are excellent. After all, a plane doesn't give a damn whether a pilot is male or female. Ronnie Reagan, Personnel Officer, Alan Ladd, Bill Holden are among the names in the story. McNamara, Mary Oscar Season 2008. The award night is approaching and the tension is rising to a peak. Who will win the coveted golden Oscars? In the Pinnacle Hotel, the best in Los Angeles, the PR Director Juliette Greyson, along with her boss, are overseeing the multitude of workers preparing the rooms, food, and special needs of the incoming stars and producers of Hollywood films. What Juliette hates about actors is that you never can tell when they are acting. Large sums of money and careers are at stake. Tension reaches new height when murder occurs and the hotel gets some unwanted publicity. Crime stories in novels, in movies and on television deal wiht what people will kill for: money, power and ego, revenge. All these motives are plentiful in show business. As some L.A. teeshirts say: LIFE IS SHORT, OSCAR SEASON IS LONG.