Customer Reviews

Murder...and All That Jazz

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The mystery anthology seemed to be dying a slow death in the '90s with the onset of the fast-food, summer beach, cats-and-recipe detective novel and the reluctance of bestselling authors to waste their sweat on the short story form.

But the anthology's now coming back with a vengeance. Penzler's sports mystery anths. and McBain's knockout new collection Transgressions come to mind. But this one came out of nowhere: A straight-to-paperback, little-trumpeted (pun intended) theme anthology that features a new Harry Bosch tale (Connelly's the one true modern heir to Chandler and a great break from the armies of Top 10 hacks out there). I'd have paid the book's price for this one alone: A police procedural with a clever mystery, a hearteningly Chandleresque Christmas moral, and a glimpse into Bosch's troubled past and affection for jazz. Connelly demonstrates here that you can write short and still deliver the goods. There's also a rare Milan Jacovich story (Les Roberts deserves more of that fame we seem to ladle on burgermeisters like Grisham, Cornwell, and Robin Cook), and additional P.I. treats by Julie Smith and Laura Lippman. That ain't enough for you, we got original Lutz, Randisi, Gorman, and Max Allan Collins. $6.99 for a feast like this? I'm glad I skipped my double-Thickburger lunch that day. You should enjoy!

Most authors express the belief that the short story is the most difficult format to execute. Developing characters and advancing plot(s) in the space limitations can tax the most gifted of writers.

Leave it to Robert Randisi to assemble a collection of fascinating short mysteries with a jazz theme that belie the conventional wisdom.

His "Murder and All That Jazz" boasts a roster filled with Edgar, Shamus and Agatha winners.

The baker's dozen tales all sparkle...my particular favorites were penned by Laura Lippman, Les Roberts, Michael Connelly, Julie Smith and Mr. Randisi.

A pleasure from start to finish. Enjoy this one and get an introduction to some writers you may not have known.

This volume of short mystery stories all connected to jazz should be a favorite for those who love both. The stories' settings range from "the jazz age" to contemporary, from New Orleans to St. Louis. Many of them are peppered with names that true jazz aficionados will recognize. Authors in the anthology are: Craig Holden, John Lutz, Martin Meyers, Max Allan Collins & Matthew V. Clemens, John Harvey, Peter Robinson, Bill Moody, Michael Connelly, Les Roberts, Julie Smith, Ed Gorman, Laura Lippman, and Rober J. Randisi, who also edited.

The good:
A wide variety of stories and styles.
If you're a big jazz fan, you'll enjoy the inclusion in many of the stories of jazz greats.

The bad:
If you're not a big jazz fan, the references may leave you cold or confused.
Some of the stories were of the literary, see-how-smart-I-am variety, and not really mysteries at all.

The verdict:
Best for literati jazz fans, but there are still a few good stories for the rest of us.

Randisi has a knack for selecting compelling mystery short stories. These stories are a notch below the hard hitting shamus types. The stories present very interesting characters whose music themed stories take them to ordinary cities that all have those out of the way places and out of synch people that that lurk where most of us never go. Randisi has a nice mix of established writers and introduces some new talent. Thoroughly enjoyable outing for mystery fans.

My greatest fear when reading collections is that they will be uneven. Not here. These are all very good. They all keep the readers attention and move quickly. Time settings were from the the late 1920's till the not too distant past. I really enjoyed this and am going to purchase books by the authors I was not previously familiar with.