Dead Folks' Blues [Hardcover]

Steven Womack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 1995

EDGAR AWARD WINNER--Best Paperback Original Mystery 1993.
When Rachel Fletcher, an old college flame, enters Harry James Denton's office needing his private detecting services, he'd rather not. But he prefers money to poverty, and agrees to find out what kind of dangerous business her husband is mixed up in. Conrad Fletcher is a rich surgeon with a lot of enemies. He also owes big money to a very big, very bad bookie. But by the time Harry catches up with Fletcher, he's gone from being in debt to being dead. The list of suspects could fill the Grand Ole Opry, and Harry's search for the killer will lead him into the partsof Nashville that no one ever sings about--unless they're singing the DEAD FOLKS' BLUES.
"A deft, atmosphere-rich novel: smart, funny, and filled with a sense of wry heartbreak. Steven Womack's Nashville stands out--it is a beautifully drawn backdrop."
James Ellroy


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nashville PI Harry James Denton is hired by an old flame, Rachel Fletcher, to help her settle her husband Conrad's gambling debts--Conrad has been getting pay-up-or-else messages. Harry decides to drop in on Conrad, a surgeon, at the local hospital--and finds him sprawled on a bed, unconscious and near death. Harry is then whacked on the head by an unseen assailant. He later learns from forensic pathologist Marsha Helms that a narcotic injection caused Conrad's death. Strongly intimating that she would like to turn to him for comfort, Rachel pulls Harry off the case. Nevertheless, he is determined to find Conrad's murderer. Attending the wake, he finds that Conrad was rather unpopular; the guests have come less to pay their respects than "to make sure he was really dead." There is a lot to like in Womack's ( Smash Cut ) hard-boiled murder mystery--an engaging sleuth, a convincing setting, a passel of folks to distrust and some good minor characters (notably Marsha). But while the book's payoff has a tidy surprise in it, it also fails to tie up some important strands of the murder scenario.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Steven Womack has done for male private eye fiction what Grafton and Paretsky did for women operatives in the eighties . . ."
-- Mostly Murder (UNKNOWN ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (January 5, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747214263
• ISBN-13: 978-0747214267
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,270,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING: Womack Can Be Addictive...., June 3, 2002

By 

Kip Stern- Varela (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Folks' Blues (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the first in the Harry James Denton series...and I devoured it in one afternoon. I had to have more! Went out and got as many of them as I could find...and read them all just as fast. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the books down. I was addicted...sigh.

What was cool is that I lived in Nashville at the time, and the setting was there. I learned more about the city through reading his books than I had in the entire time I'd been there.
What even made it better is that Harry lived pretty close to where I was living in real life! He even wrote about the very grocery store I went to every week...

The main character was endearing, yet rough-edged to say the least. I loved everything about the series. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up...I betcha get the next in the series, too...and the next, and the next.....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING: Womack Can Be Addictive...., June 3, 2002

By 

Kip Stern- Varela (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Folks' Blues (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the first in the Harry James Denton series...and I devoured it in one afternoon. I had to have more! Went out and got as many of them as I could find...and read them all just as fast. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the books down. I was addicted...sigh.

What was cool is that I lived in Nashville at the time, and the setting was there. I learned more about the city through reading his books than I had in the entire time I'd been there.
What even made it better is that Harry lived pretty close to where I was living in real life! He even wrote about the very grocery store I went to every week...

The main character was endearing, yet rough-edged to say the least. I loved everything about the series. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up...I betcha get the next in the series, too...and the next, and the next.....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent atmosphere, for a lighthearted mystery, must read, April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead Folks' Blues (Harry James Denton Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an excellent, tight murder mystery plot. The Protagonist, Harry Denton is a down on his luck ex-newspaper man turned PI with no business. When an ex of his walks in asking for his help, he takes the case and finds more than he bargained for. Womack's sense of place is excellent, and reveals a side of Nashville that until now, only natives knew. perfect for a weekend at the beach!