Shades
of Blue
An Evan Horne
Mystery
Bill Moody
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-485-6 (1590584856)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-485-9 (9781590584859)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): After several months of successful work in London and
Amsterdam with American expatriate Fletcher Paige, Evan Horne returns
to the states and settles in the San Francisco Bay Area. There he
reunites with his girlfriend, FBI agent, Andie Lawrence. And Evan
quickly makes inroads into the Bay Area jazz scene. Life is good until
a phone call from a Los Angeles attorney turns his life upside down.
Evan’s old friend and former mentor, pianist Calvin Hughes,
has died, and named Evan as his sole beneficiary. Evan is shocked to
learn that Hughes has left him his small Hollywood house, money, and
all his possessions. But when Evan begins to play through some
hand-written sheet music, he recognizes one as a song from the landmark
Miles Davis recording Birth of the Cool, and another from Kind of Blue,
arguably one of the most important recordings in modern jazz. Was
Calvin Hughes the uncredited composer of one or both of these tunes, or
was it simply Hughes’s transcriptions from the recordings?
In addition, Evans finds a cryptic note, and a photo taken almost 40
years earlier—a young Cal with his hand on a baby carriage.
Both are taped to the bottom of a dresser drawer. A friend of
Cal’s Lisa Gaines will continue to take care of Milton and
rent from Evan. Evan is soon on a whirl-wind journey across the country
to find answers from his family and to confront his mother. What was
her relationship with Calvin Hughes? And just how did Jazz come into
the equation?
Review:
After an absence of nearly 6 years, Bill Moody returns with Shades of
Blue, the 6th book in his series featuring jazz musician Evan Horne.
Not a murder mystery per se, but an intriguing investigation into the
past.
Shortly after returning to San Francisco from a jazz engagement in
Europe, Even receives a phone call from a lawyer informing him that his
former piano teacher, mentor, and close friend Calvin Hughes has died.
In the late 40s and early 50s Calvin was the pianist in some very
popular jazz bands and taught Evan to love the music as much as he did.
To Evan's surprise, Calvin had named him the sole beneficiary of his
estate which consisted of a small house in Hollywood, some money, and
all his other possessions. While taking an inventory of what was there,
Evan discovers handwritten sheet music of songs made popular by the
renowned Miles Davis Trio. Calvin had been their pianist. Though Miles
was credited as the author, Evan cannot help but wonder if Calvin was
the true composer. Evan also finds, taped to the bottom of a drawer, a
cryptic note and a picture of Calvin with a baby in a carriage. Calvin
had never married and neither Evan nor others than knew Calvin could
ever remember him mentioning having a child. Another mystery surfaces
when an unknown woman is named as the beneficiary of Calvin's life
insurance. Clearly Calvin had secrets that he kept well hidden even
from his closest friends. As Evan crosses the country to understand
more about his late friend's life, he ultimately hears a shocking story
from an unexpected source: his mother.
Shades of Blue is one of those atmospheric novels that relies more on
how the plot unfolds and the manner in which it is told is than on the
story itself. One knows that something is going to happen, but it isn't
clear what it is, and how or when it will occur. From that perspective,
this is a suspenseful novel. The characters are all well-rounded and
the jazz setting lends a noir-ish feel to the whole book. An
interesting story to be sure, yet in the end it all seems a bit
incomplete as if there could have been, or should have been, something
more.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Shades of Blue and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Solo Hand
Walker (Hardcover), February 1994
ISBN-10: 0-8027-3248-8 (0802732488)
Death of a Tenor
Man
Walker (Hardcover), October 1995
ISBN-10: 0-8027-3269-0 (0802732690)
The Sound of the
Trumpet
Walker (Hardcover), December 1996
ISBN-10: 0-8027-3291-7 (0802732917)
Bird Lives!
Walker (Hardcover), June 1999
ISBN-10: 0-8027-3327-1 (0802733271)
Looking for Chet
Baker
Walker (Hardcover), March 2002
ISBN-10: 0-8027-3368-9 (0802733689)
Shades of Blue
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-485-6 (1590584856)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-485-9 (9781590584859)
Omnimystery keywords for Shades of Blue ...
Location(s) referenced: San Francisco.