Blue Moon [Hardcover]

Peter Duchin (Author), John Morgan Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Bandleader Philip Damon still hasn't recovered from the death of his wife-victim of a still-unsolved murder-when he arrives at a charity ball at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel. So, understandably, he's quite shaken to meet Lenore Ashley there, as she uncannily resembles his late wife. But the belle of the ball becomes a suspect when her companion is found dead with an ice pick in his heart. Now, Philip must solve two murders-and discover why he is the one link between them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

High society bandleader Duchin and Edgar Award winner Wilson (the Benjamin Justice series) team up for a nostalgia-filled first mystery set in San Francisco in 1963. A bandleader, and son of a famous bandleader, Philip Damon plays swing and jazz standards at grand hotels and special events when he isn't hanging out with such friends as Bobby Short, Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote and George Plimpton. The name-dropping, which starts on page two and remains a constant feature, will irritate some and amuse others. Still mourning the death of his wife, Diana, the victim of an unsolved murder two years earlier, Damon agrees at Jackie's suggestion to play a charity gig with his orchestra at the Fairmont Hotel, where he first met Diana. Just as Damon spots a Diana look-alike on the crowded dance floor in the arms of real estate tycoon Terence Hamilton Collier III, the lights go out; when they go back on, Collier is dead with an ice pick in his chest. San Francisco's lone black homicide inspector, Hercules Platt, grudgingly comes to accept Damon's help on the case, though Damon is himself a suspect. While the authors supply a reasonably credible plot, the atmosphere of '60s San Francisco they evoke, from Chinatown to Haight-Ashbury, will be the draw for most readers. The characters visit virtually every well-known restaurant at least once. Expect applause and an encore for bandleader sleuth Philip Damon.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Two years after the unsolved murder of his pregnant wife, society pianist/band leader Philip Damon returns to the city where he first met her for a stylish fundraiser. San Francisco holds a rude shock: he sees his wife's apparent double at the Fairmont Hotel with a real estate tycoon's heir and the heir winds up murdered. With the help of a few well-placed friends, Damon figures out the connection between his wife's death and this present trouble. There's plenty of namedropping here, not surprising, as society band leader Duchin (Ghost of a Chance: A Memoir) is also the son of pianist/band leader Eddie Duchin; coauthor Wilson is the Edgar Award-winning author of the "Benjamin Justice" series. Their collaboration marks a promising debut in a new series. For larger collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425186458
• ISBN-13: 978-0425186459
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong amateur sleuth, September 29, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Moon (Hardcover)

He is the bandmaster of the Philip Damon Orchestra, lives in a beautiful apartment in New York City, and is on a first name basis with Jackie Kennedy and Truman Capote among other notables. On the surface, Phillip Damon has it all, but deep in his heart he is still grieving for Diana and their unborn child who were murdered in their apartment while Philip and his orchestra were on the road. The murderer was never caught.

Philip and his company are performing at a charity gig in the Fairmont Hotel when he momentarily spots a woman who looks almost exactly like his dead wife. During the actual performance, he sees the woman Lenore Ashley on the arms of famous real state tycoon Terrence Collier III. During the performance, the lights go out momentarily. When they come back on Collier is dead, an ice pick in his chest. Diana was involved with Collier before she met Philip and he is determined to find out if the murders are linked and if so, how.

Peter Duchin and John Morgan Wilson team up to write one of the better debut amateur sleuth novels of the year. The work itself is very atmospheric and the story line, which takes place in 1963, seems like it occurs in a world so much different than four decades ago. The plot is extremely well crafted, with so many coincidences and linking relationship that readers will keep turning the pages to find out all the secrets and agendas of the myriad of suspects.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing period noir set in San Francisco, November 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue Moon (Hardcover)

For those who enjoy a literary style as smooth and sweet as the legendary swing bands of the forties, here's an engrossing new mystery series to discover. Edgar winning author, John Morgan Wilson, teams up with society bandleader, Peter Duchin, to create an evocative series set in the world of the high society movers and shakers of 1963. Like Mr. Duchin himself, the protagonist is part of the social set that includes celebs of the time from DiMaggio and the Kennedys--a unique and clever milleau for dramas high and low as murder follows murder, and our protag is pursued as well.

I enjoyed the bright and complex characterizations and the intricate, noirish mystery plot as much as the authors' stylish, clear phrasings--in all, a piece of tantalizing music set into novel form.

This mystery is a winner. You will be glad to discover this series early.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars buy it. buy it now., June 23, 2003

By 

RMS Bear (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blue Moon (Hardcover)

Great book. Well-written, humorous, well-plotted. I look forward to more books in what could be a well-done series. I'm a big fan of John Morgan Wilson's Justice series and while this is not as dark as those can be, it is well worth the read.