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The Ragtime Fool (Ragtime Mysteries)(Library Edition)

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Larry Karp's excellent The Ragtime Fool concludes the trilogy which began with The Ragtime Kid. At the end of that book, its titular hero, Brun Campbell, departed Sedalia, Missouri, under a bit of a cloud. Now it's 1951, fifty-two years have passed, and he's a piano-playing barber in Venice, California, doing his best to spread the gospel of ragtime. But it's an uphill battle, so when he learns that Sedalia is planning to honor his mentor, Scott Joplin, Brun makes up his mind to go there, and he lets nothing--not his wife, not his finances, not even the police, who find him "of interest" in a suspicious death--stand in his way. Even more importantly, there's word that Joplin left a journal, and Brun is determined to get his hands on it and get Joplin the recognition he deserves. But others want that journal, as well, and not all of them are fans of Joplin; some others, in fact, want to make sure the journal never again sees the light of day.
In some respects, this book hovers on the verge of being a caper novel. There are, after all, six or seven partnerships, some of them pretty unlikely, prowling the streets of Sedalia on the track of this journal; and there are lots of near-misses as the journal changes hands. There's a sort of romance, too, between a young man who's also crazy about ragtime and the girl who believes in him enough to bankroll him. But there's also a vicious plot looming, to dynamite the high school where the tribute to Joplin is to take place. Indeed, violence frames this novel, from California to Missouri.
As in the previous novels in this trilogy, the cast of The Ragtime Fool is partly real and partly fictional, partly white and partly black, partly good and partly bad. Race plays an important part in the story of ragtime, and so it does in this novel--the casual ugliness of racial bias permeates every neighborhood but one. Happily, there are good people, both black and white, who look after each other and do the right thing. As always, Karp's impeccable research enables him to paint a vivid picture of 1950's Sedalia, and he's created some wonderful characters to tell his ragtime story, especially a precocious teen-aged investment whiz, and a wonderful heroic lady who has enough starch in her to keep everyone straight. Young Alan Chandler, Brun's fictional apprentice, is as single-minded as Brun, and as impulsive; and his short stay in Sedalia changes his life forever.
So who is The Ragtime Fool? Well, Brun and his sometime pupil, Alan, are surely fools for ragtime; and there are the ignorant fools who define a man's worth by the color of his skin; and then there are a lot of men who are fooled by their own self-importance. There's plenty of foolery to go around, and plenty of good reading in this book. Find yourself some ragtime music, sit down and read the whole trilogy, and see for yourself.

This novel wraps up a trilogy about the life and times of Scott Joplin. The year is 1951, and the town of Sedalia, MO, is planning a ceremony to honor the ragtime king and place a plaque up on the wall of the "colored" high school. The only white pupil of Joplin, Brun Campbell, the old Ragtime Kid, who has lived as a barber in Venice, CA, for many years, playing his piano in his shop, wants to create a more fitting memorial to Joplin, hoping to play at the ceremony and induce the citizens of Sedalia to build a museum about ragtime.

Into this mix is a young 17-year-old New Jersey lad who becomes enthused about ragtime on hearing some tunes on the radio, the negotiations with Joplin's widow for a journal he wrote, the death of Brun's long-time friend and an assortment of complications, including members of the Sedalia Ku Klux Klan and competition among various persons to obtain control of the journal for a variety of reasons.

Entertaining in more ways than one, the novel, of course, as is the entire trilogy, is based loosely on historical fact and real and imagined persons. Well-written and constructed with an eye to keeping it suspenseful, "Ragtime" is recommended.

The Ragtime Fool provides a fine, satisfying mystery set in 1951 when ragtime is making a comeback in Missouri. A ceremony to celebrate Scott Joplin comes under fire when an old friend wants to suppress secrets. Fast action and strong characterization make this a winner.

The Ragtime Fool by Larry Karp caps the author's wonderful ragtime trilogy, which traces musical innovator Scott Joplin and his legacy from Joplin's roots in Sedalia, Missouri, to his later days in New York's Harlem, and back again to Sedalia to view the aftermath of Joplin's legacy. Karp breathes suspenseful, action-packed life into all three of these crime fiction stories, and bases them on many real-world historical figures uncovered through exacting research and filled in by way of the author's deep character insights and drama-loving imagination.

This final part of the saga is set in 1951 and starts in Venice, California, where Joplin's one white student, Brun Campbell, now an old man, lives and operates a barber shop. We also meet young Alan Chandler in Hobart, New Jersey, an aspiring pianist who has just discovered ragtime.

The unfortunate death--perhaps murder--of Brun's friend in California; a rich young lady in New Jersey who has a crush on Alan: a Scott Joplin celebration in Sedalia; and the revelation of a journal written by Scott Joplin himself and now up for sale set off the amusing, difficult, and deadly serious events that Karp follows without hesitation giving readers a novel's worth of true enjoyment. The story is riveting in every aspect and the characters are as authentic as the people in everyone's own real lives. The mystery is fun, fascinating, and ultimately satisfying. Another notch on the author's very accomplished list of works.

Larry Karp, with his novelist's eye for plot and character and his historian's respect for time and place, has applied these practiced skills to another superb mystery. His leading man this time is Brun Campbell, "The Ragtime Fool." We met Brun as an 1899 teenager in Karp's first novel in this trilogy,"The Ragtime Kid." HISTORY: Campbell (a real person) was a pupil of Scott Joplin (true.) In his wife's eyes, he'd always been a Fool for the vulgar music that has imprinted his life. FICTION: Now it's 1951. The Kid's an old man. He's returning half-a-century later to Ragtime's birthplace, Sedalia, Missouri, in the belief that he can ignite renewed respect for his now-forgotten idol. Trust me, the complex mystery the author constructs in that town, at that time, will keep you turning the pages well past midnight. Yes, it's about music. It's also about greed, hatred, love, and murder.

Max Morath, Entertainer/writer

At one time, Brun Campbell was the sole white student of ragtime master Scott Joplin. However, that was seemingly ages ago for now in 1951, The Ragtime Kid is an old man who cuts hair in Venice, California, but continues to push Joplin's reputation hoping to get some good publicity for the ragtime great.

In Joplin's hometown of Sedalia, Missouri, plans to honor him in a special ceremony have divided the area. Many are proud of what the late great ragtime guru did, but the Klan has other thoughts. When word of a Joplin journal surfaces, Brun and a seventeen years old New Jersey ally Alan Chandler are exhilarated and want it published so the profits will allow the leaders of Sedalia to create a Joplin-Ragtime museum. Historian Rudi Blesh also wants to publish the journal as a book. Others including close friends of Joplin do not want it published while the Klan wants to destroy the diary. The Klan believes killing including blowing up a filled auditorium is acceptable.

The third Ragtime historical tale is a superb thriller with a seemingly cast of thousands deftly played like a maestro by Larry Karp. The multiple sub-plotted story line is fast-paced as several diverse interests converge in Sedalia. The deep look at racial relations and divisions during the end of the Truman era as well as how those who knew Joplin prefer to pick and choose their history as nostalgia wants positive memories which makes for a strong character driven mid twentieth century thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The Ragtime Fool is the best yet in what was already a fantastic trilogy. Carefully crafted and richly peopled with both historical and fictional characters, this taut mystery explores the racial tensions of the 1950s, informing as it entertains. Once again, Larry Karp is pitch perfect in an intricate tale of music and murder.