Perfect Sax: A Madeline Bean Novel [Hardcover]

Jerrilyn Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

Number one Los Angeles Times bestselling author, multiple-award nominee and winner, and peerless purveyor of the most scrumptiously delicious mysteries ever to please a discriminating palate, the incomparable Jerrilyn Farmer returns with another Mad Bean event -- where murder, mayhem, and madcap doings simmer together in a tempting ragout.

The dazzling Jazz Ball for the prestigious Woodburn School of Music promises to be event planner Madeline Bean's greatest triumph to date -- both professionally and personally. All the rich and mighty of L.A. society's fund-raising crowd seem to be seriously enjoying the festivities, not to mention the black-and-white-themed menu Mad and company have whipped up in their kitchen. And there may even be a replacement here for her ex-beau LAPD Detective Chuck Honnett -- who turned out to be not as completely divorced as he'd implied -- although charming trust-fund hunk Dexter Delano Wyatt's past may be a bit too shady for Ms. Bean's good.

Of course, then everything goes straight to hell. Having to contend with a heap of celebrity trash, a ranting vocal coach, his rabid bitch of a girlfriend, and dueling preteen music prodigies is bad enough. But when the furious bidding war for the prize item to be auctioned off—a one-of-a-kind, sterling silver Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone -- almost results in bloodshed, and the perfect sax subsequently vanishes, Madeline can't help but wonder what else could possibly go wrong.

Well ... she could arrive home to discover a dead body in her bedroom. Detective Honnett could start making insistent "take me back" noises. The man Mad is considering as a candidate to fill the void in her sex life could have been involved in a multimillion-dollar art theft and insurance fraud and maybe much worse. And then there's the red-haired stranger who seems to be stalking her.

All in all, the lethal looniness surrounding the theft of a priceless instrument is threatening to drive Mad quite mad. With the jazz cool, the sax "hot," and the martinis smoking, it may drive her quite dead.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

TV writer Farmer's seventh breezy culinary mystery (after 2003's Mumbo Gumbo) smoothly blends all the right ingredients - Beverly Hills money mania, tart humor, romance and, of course, murder. The Woodburn School of Music's fund-raising soiree, the Jazz Ball, catered by party planner Madeline Bean and her Mad Bean Events, looks to be a great success, until someone steals the silver saxophone that went for $100,000 at the charity auction. Later that night, one of the waitresses at the event turns up dead in Maddie's own bed - now how in the heck could that happen? Enter a flickering old flame and a brand new sparkler. A former boyfriend of Maddie's, police lieutenant Chuck Honnett, steps in to work the whodunit and to put some kindling on their relationship's embers. Dexter Delano Wyatt, a trust-fund cutie, is hoping for more immediate fireworks. Cheating hearts, insurance fraud, art theft and a second dead body have Madeline unsure whom to trust and certain that her own life is in danger. She's followed, spied on, shot at and pursued by the good, the bad and the ugly, but comes through with a taste or two of justice, and perhaps a whole new lease on her muddled love life. Farmer's menus and decorating descriptions, glimpses into the high-end Hollywood lifestyle and warmly conversational tone will delight fans of lighter crime capers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Madeline Bean, Los Angeles party planner for the rich and famous, outdoes herself catering the Black and White Ball, a fund-raiser for the prestigious Woodburn School of Music's Young Artists Program. After the ball, she lends her car to a desperate employee and catches a ride with Woodburn committee cochair, Zenya Knight, whose husband leaves her stranded downtown, late at night. Finally arriving home after being rescued by Zenya' s brother, Dexter, Madeline finds a woman has been murdered in her bed, and she may herself be in danger. A missing saxophone, a neighbor's personal papers, and possible fraud complicate Madeline's hunt for the killer. While solving the mystery, Madeline must also come to terms with her feelings for Dexter and with the fall-out from her breakup with a married police officer. A lively pace, sympathetic characters, a glimpse into the lives of the very rich, and some tempting descriptions of food add to the story line in this sixth in a series. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380978903
• ISBN-13: 978-0380978908
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,743,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must for bean fans, August 3, 2005

By 

Ms. Ruth Akien - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Sax (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhapse due to the larger number of pages (when compared with the rest of the series) perfect Sax manages to bring together not only a very effective two pronged mystery but a lot of the loose ends of Miss Bean's romantic life.

One of the best in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quickly rising to the top of my favorite author list..., April 26, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Sax: A Madeline Bean Novel (Hardcover)

After thoroughly enjoying Mumbo Gumbo, I looked forward to reading Jerrilyn Farmer's latest Madeline Bean novel, Perfect Sax. And I can say it was worth the wait. Lots of stuff going on in this book...

Madeline Bean has just finished putting on a catered event for a charitable group, and she's ready to go home and collapse. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. She finds some personal papers of a neighbor in her driveway and finds the person at the event. When she tries to tell him that she has them, he thinks that she is trying to blackmail him. His girlfriend also goes off the deep end on Maddie. A rare and expensive saxaphone which had a $100K bid turns up missing when people go to claim their winnings after the event. On her co-worker's request after the event, she loans her jeep to an employee for an emergency, but the employee turns up in Maddie's bedroom that night shot to death. When the neighbor whose papers she found also turns up murdered, she starts wondering if she's next. A number of people in her life could well be the killer and/or be involved in the theft, and she's not real sure who to trust. To make it worse, she's falling hard for this guy who might be involved, and she's still not sure how she feels about her ex-boyfriend cop who wasn't quite yet divorce from his wife.

Much like Mumbo Gumbo, the plot twists keep you guessing, and you don't get complete resolution until the end. Maddie's an extremely likeable character, and you easily identify with her as she's trying to stay alive and not lose her sanity. While her personal life is still up in the air at the end of the book, there is plenty of room to run with it in the next installment. Good read, and good job by the author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous writer who always tells a great tale, January 7, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Perfect Sax: A Madeline Bean Novel (Hardcover)

Maddie Bean's catering and events planning business is becoming very chic with the rich, powerful and famous in Las Angeles and Hollywood. Her firm is catering an event to raise funds for the Woodburn School of Music so that gifted children who can't afford the fees can obtain a scholarship. The gala is a smashing success and Maddie is justifiably proud of her role in the affair.

She leaves the affair with a couple who bought a one hundred thousand dollar musical instrument for their son. Maddie loaned her car to an employee who needs to get to her boyfriend, because to is despondent over her boyfriend failing to earn his dissertation. Maddie arrives home to find police surrounding her house. Her employee lies dead in her bedroom. Not much time passes before Maddie discovers her neighbor is murdered, an angry man who was upset that Maddie found his private papers lying in her street. She not only thinks the two deaths are linked but she believes someone is out to kill her as well but nobody will believe her, thinking she is overwrought and upset.

Jerrilyn Farmer is a fabulous writer who has created one of the most delightful and charming amateur sleuth souls in the mystery world. The plot is fast-paced and action packed but the heart of this who-done-it lies with the characters and sorting out the villains from the heroes. PERFECT SAX has several sub-plots that make this tale all the more fascinating, especially someone stealing the valuable musical instrument.

Harriet Klausner