Blues in the Night [Hardcover]

Rochelle Krich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Sunday, July 13. 1:46 A.M. Near Lookout Mountain and Laurel Canyon. An unidentified woman in her twenties, wearing a nightgown, was the victim of a hit-and-run accident that left her unconscious and seriously injured. There were no witnesses.

So reads the report on the accident off Mulholland Drive in Molly Blume’s Crime Sheet column for a weekly Los Angeles tabloid. Just another small L.A. tragedy, soon forgotten.

But the image of the young woman in her nightgown stumbling along a dark, winding road is one Molly, a freelance true-crime writer, cannot shake. In fact, it draws her to a bedside in intensive care, where the victim whispers to her three names: Robbie, Max, and Nina. It’s not a smoking gun, but is sufficient to reinforce Molly’s gut instinct that there are sinister circumstances behind the assault on Lenore Saunders.

With fearless conviction, Molly asks questions that nobody—including Lenore’s mom, her ex-husband, her shrink, or even Molly’s L.A.P.D. buddy, Detective Connors—wants to answer. Nevertheless, the astute Molly discovers Lenore lived a fractured life, so different from Molly’s own secure and loving Orthodox Jewish background. And as a chilling picture of the unfortunate woman begins to take shape, the menace of murders past and present stirs and quickens.

In her first Molly Blume novel, award-winning novelist Rochelle Krich tells a story in the tradition of the great L.A. mysteries of the past—and introduces an investigator who is pure gold. Twentysomething divorcee Molly Blume, with her deep faith, short skirts, and nose for the truth, is a heroine to cherish.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With Los Angeles true-crime writer Molly Blume (yes, she gets teased about that a lot), Agatha Award winner Krich (Shadows of Sin and four other Jessie Drake mysteries) introduces a smart new heroine in a new suspense series. Molly finds her stories everywhere and has learned to respect that tingle that tells her she's onto something. When a newspaper snippet about a young woman nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver snags her attention, Molly plunges headfirst into the story. It's a bit like falling into the rabbit hole, for the more she learns about the victim, the less she understands. The young woman may have been a tragic figure who killed her infant son while suffering a postpartum psychosis, or a very clever manipulator who planned the murder even before the child was born. She may have committed suicide in the hospital, or she may have been murdered. Molly's onion-peeling investigation will appeal to those who read mysteries for the pleasure of solving an intricate puzzle. Equally appealing, enough to make us wish for more, is the affectionate portrait of a large, boisterous Jewish family. Everyone needs a wise grandmother like Molly's. A sideline love story is a bit of a throwaway, but the fascinating look inside the culture and rituals of Orthodox Judaism more than makes up for it. Krich nicely captures the sense of community that religious faith can create, and she skillfully paints the special beauty of the desert landscape outside L.A.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Molly Blume is a modern Orthodox Jew who just happens to be a true-crime writer. It's an unusual combination, perhaps, but Molly (and Krich) makes it work--as well here as in past Blume mysteries. In this one, about devotion misplaced and forgiveness well earned, the mysterious circumstances surrounding a hit-and-run victim force the inquisitive Molly to reexamine a past tragedy that involves the same players as the current conundrum. As Blume fans have come to expect, no matter how tantalizing the mystery, dedicated Molly always finds time to celebrate her faith and visit with her family. This time she also takes an opportunity to wrestle with the possibility that the new rabbi, who broke her heart when they were teens, is worthy of another chance. By the close, the villains, of course, come to light, but the romance with the rabbi, though promising, still isn't a done deal. Give this engaging mystery to patrons who like a milder sort of suspense, with ample religious context. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345449711
• ISBN-13: 978-0345449719
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,023,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues in the Night by Rochelle Majer Krich, October 16, 2002

By 

Stephanie (Boca Raton, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Hardcover)

Rochelle Krich has created a new series protagonist and this first book in that series is a delight! Molly Blume has everything I seek in a character; she's serious about her work, but has a great sense of humor, is resourceful, and seemingly at the top of her form in her profession. What's more, she interacts with a coterie of compelling characters, and they bring out the best in her.
The story begins when Molly, the crime writer for an L.A. newspaper, learns that a woman in a nightgown is a hit-and-run accident victim. Drawn to learn what brought the woman out to the dark road, Molly goes to her bedside. The woman, Lenore, whispers the names of three people. Molly and the reader are hooked!
Delving into the case with Molly is only part of the draw. The contrast between Lenore's bleak history and Molly's own loving Orthodox Jewish family life is part of the attraction of this book. Unlike Jessie Drake, Rochelle Krich's other serial protagonist, Molly is not grappling with her religious identity. Her spiritual life glows with a steady light that illuminates the world around her. I found myself yearning for a fragment of the inner peace and sense of continuity that Molly's family life gives her. I needed to remind myself that Molly is a fictional character, so realistically were some scenes and interior monologues drawn.
Krich has a splendid way of building suspense and propelling the plot to its conclusion, in this case a most surprising yet seamlessly fitting one. I thoroughly enjoyed Blues in the Night, and, while I miss Jessie Drake, I hope to see much more of Molly Blume in the future.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful New Series, November 30, 2002

By 

Susan Anderson "westernshore" (Westminster, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Hardcover)

BLUES IN THE NIGHT is the first entry in a new series by Rochelle Krich. The protagonist, Molly Blume, writes true-crime books and works as a free-lance reporter who collects data from the LAPD for local newspapers to use for their "neighborhood crime" sections. As the book opens, she comes across a police report that warrants special attention: an unidentified woman, wearing a nightgown, was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. As Molly says, "It was the nightgown that hooked me."

Molly wants to know why a woman would have been out on Laurel Canyon, in the middle of the night, in a nightgown. Luckily she has a friend in the LAPD, Detective Andy Connors, but Connors can't tell her much this time, because the police don't know much. That doesn't stop Molly, though, any more than Connors' importuning does. Molly's inquisitive nature can't let this drop, even when it becomes apparent that her investigating is putting her in danger.

Molly is a likeable, believable character. In fact, all the characters in BLUES are believable and fully drawn. Molly and her family are Modern Orthodox Jews and Krich weaves that seamlessly into the story; there's nothing gimmicky about it, nor are the explanations of their religious practices didactic.

Krich's skill isn't limited to fully-developed characters. Her deft touch makes Los Angeles and its environs come alive. Her plotting is exquisite. Calling BLUES IN THE NIGHT a page turner may not do it justice, because so often books described that way are plot-driven to the exclusion of everything else. But this is a page-turner in the best possible sense; it's a hard book to put down because the reader is soon as obsessed as Molly with unraveling the backstory on the woman in the nightgown.

Besides, who could resist a book by an author with the sense of humor to have this Molly quoting that other Molly's soliloquy from Ulysses?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tight, Tense, and Compelling....., October 28, 2002

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues in the Night (Hardcover)

"It was the nightgown that hooked me." Meet Molly Blume, modern Orthodox Jew, true crime writer, and freelance reporter for the local crime sheet throwaway you find at supermarkets and drug stores. She's tough, wise, independent, sassy, and now intrigued by the hit and run blurb she's just written up. What was a twenty-something woman, with no identification, doing in Laural Canyon near Lookout Mountain at two in the morning, dressed only in her nightgown? Who was she running from, and why was she left, seriously injured, in the road to die? Like an itch that just has to be scratched, Molly is determined to find out. As she begins investigating, the pieces of the puzzle don't quite fit together, and the deeper she digs into the victim's, Lenore Saunders, life, the more she finds that secrets, lies, and maybe even murder from the past, led to that fateful night..... Award winning author, Rochelle Krich introduces a new and captivating heroine, and readers who enjoy her marvelous Jessie Drake series won't be disappointed. Ms Krich's compelling story line is tight and tense, and filled with wit, vivid scenes, and clever twists that keep the reader off balance and guessing to the end. But it's her brilliant characterizations that make this novel sparkle. These are real people, sometimes heroic and well meaning, but often flawed and chasing internal demons, and Ms Krich has a talent for breathing life into even the most minor character as the story comes alive on the page. With its stunning climax and satisfying ending that ties up all the loose ends, Blues In The Night is the first of what promises to be a terrific new series, and a book that belongs at the top of every mystery lover's "must read" list.