The Concert Killer
A Jason Duffy Mystery by R. J. McDonnell
Review: San Diego private investigator Jason Duffy is hired by a concert promoter to liaison with the police, who are investigating a series of murders at different venues across the state, in The Concert Killer, the third mystery in this series by R. J. McDonnell.
Though Duffy's role is intended to be one of support to the promoters, he's given free rein to pursue an independent investigation as he sees fit. Concerts are big business and rumors of a serial killer targeting the attendees — or members of the venue staff or performers' crew — would cause a substantial financial loss. It is in everyone interest that this case be solved as quickly as possible. Four people have been killed so far, but there are no similarities between the victims and their manner of death. Indeed, because the police have so few clues, the killer decides to help them along with a note attached to the fourth to die saying "Concerts are Evil" and signed "The Concert Killer".
In many ways, The Concert Killer is a routine serial killer thriller, with CK — the "Concert Killer" — having his own point of view. That he's a religious fanatic doing God's work isn't terribly original, but the overall storyline is appealing. As Duffy puts it, "It was hard to get past the notion that the killer did a brilliant job of making the murders appear unrelated, only to leave a note [after the fourth] connecting the dots. Why?" It is this very question that drives Duffy (and the reader) to try to figure out the real motive for the murders.
As with the previous books in this series, Duffy takes the reader on a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry, this time at all that is required to promote a band and to put on an event. Much of it is interesting and informative, and serves to provide a number of alternate suspects (and subplots) for Duffy to pursue, but given that CK is a known entity, the music connection to him — and the motive for the murders — is at best tangential.
Acknowledgment: the author provided a copy of The Concert Killer for this review.
Review Copyright © 2011 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …
Rock & Roll Rip-Off
Killeena Publishing (Hardcover), April 2010
ISBN-13: 9780981491424; ISBN-10: 0981491421
Location(s) referenced in The Concert Killer: San Diego, California
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The Concert Killer by R. J. McDonnell
Publisher: Killeena Publishing
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 0-9814914-5-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-9814914-5-5
Publication Date: August 2011
List Price: $12.99
Synopsis (from the publisher): A religious fanatic serial killer, who hates rock music, tries to shut down the concert industry. A group of independent concert promoters hire private investigator Jason Duffy and his staff of former outpatient mental health clients to catch him. The killer believes that God rewards His favorites with the most money, and keeps score of his victims on the back of a dollar bill. Jason uses his background as a counselor and club musician to battle his cleverest and most twisted adversary ever.