Solo Hand [Paperback]

Bill Moody (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413892 (Dead Men):
Jack Starr is of an age where most men are contemplating retirement. Jack, however, has just been released from prison for the murder of his wife. He now prepares to go into his sunset years living in a small hotel room downtown working as a security guard. That was his plan before he found a pistol that has already ended one life and threatens to end his as well.

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413833 (Solo Hand)
Evan Horne, once a world class pianist, is now a man with a broken hand and a broken career. When former boss, singer Lonnie Cole, asks him to be intermediary in the payment of blackmail, Horne is unable to resist. But trading money for embarrassing photos turns out to be complicated. Pretty soon the money is gone, but the photos haven't turned up. Instead, there's a fresh body on the beach. And Horne is looking more and more like a suspect.

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413825 (Looking for Chet Baker-Audio Book): Evan Horne, recovering from both the injury to his hand and to his psyche, is on tour in England, hoping to concentrate on music and not on crime. But his old friend, Ace Buffington, who's led him into trouble before, shows up with a contract to write a biography of legendary trumpeter Chet Baker. Baker died of a fall from the window of his hotel in Amsterdam in 1988. Whether he accidentally fell, or was pushed is one of the mysteries of the jazz world. Evan resists this adventure until Ace turns up missing and leaves him no choice. To find Ace, he will have to dig into the mysterious death of Chet Baker.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A music-biz insider uses his connections with slippery agents, sneaky producers and his fellow jazz artists to solve a blackmailing case in this entertaining debut set in L.A. Evan Horne, once a career jazz pianist, is recuperating from a car accident that damaged his right--aka "solo"--hand. His former employer, jazz singer Lonnie Cole, isn't doing too well either. Although Lonnie has just collaborated on a promising crossover album with a country and western star, Lonnie has received an envelope of photos that show him and the C & W man in compromising positions at a wild party. A note enclosed with the prints names Evan as the go-between to carry $1 million to the villainous photographer. Though insisting that he's not involved in the scheme, Evan grudgingly agrees to act as an amateur investigator and warily undertakes his new role, sticking with it even after he's hit on the head and pushed, unconscious, into a marina. Moody creates a tangle of clues and motives that Evan determinedly untangles despite his lack of PI experience. Jazz fans hoping for descriptions of artistry will find workaday musicians instead, but Moody's portrayals of the backstabbing music industry and a royalties scam ring true.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A popular jazz pianist until his right hand was damaged in an auto accident, Evan Horne now writes the occasional critical essay while undergoing physical therapy and adjusting to the idea that he might never play professionally again. His association with Lonnie Cole, "the King of Soul," ended prior to the accident, but they are brought together again when a blackmailer threatening to ruin the reputations of Cole and Country-Western star Charlie Crisp insists that Horne serve as go-between for the million-dollar payoff. After the money is stolen from him, the pianist's risky quest for the culprit takes him--and the reader--deep into the nonperforming side of the music industry. Narrated by Horne, this first novel is a fast-paced, easy-to-read tale of amateur detection.
- V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 193 pages
• Publisher: Dark City Books (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964413833
• ISBN-13: 978-0964413832
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,570,752 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sizzling Intro to a Jazz-themed mystery series!!, February 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Solo Hand (Hardcover)

After an accident has rendered his left hand--his solo hand--unfit for playing the jazz piano that's been his livelihood, Evan Horne is reluctantly recruited as a bag-man in an elaborate blackmail scheme involving his ex-wife and former employer and a host of colorful characters ranging from an ex-NFL-player-turned-bodyguard to a strangely-erudite country singer. But what at first seems a straightforward money-drop becomes a convoluted and constricting tangle of circumstance with Evan at its center, struggling against an unknown schemer who seems to know all-too-much about this musician-turned-detective. Soon the police are involved and Evan Horne learns just how cut-throat the music business can be. But this is no prissy tickler of the ivories; this is a man who uses the discipline and perserverance that made him a musician make him a detective. Moody plays out an intricate plot at a masterful pace, creating authentic characters and an atmosphere deeply informed with Moody's experiences as musician, DJ, and historian. Evan Horne is a likeable and resourceful hero who narrates but doesn't preach, who informs as he entertains. Solo Hand is a must-read for anyone interested in those two American pastimes: Jazz and murder.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sizzling Intro to a Jazz-themed mystery series, February 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Solo Hand (Mass Market Paperback)

After an accident has rendered his left hand--his solo hand--unfit for playing the jazz piano that's been his livelihood, Evan Horne is reluctantly recruited as a bag-man in an elaborate blackmail scheme involving his ex-wife and former employer and a host of colorful characters ranging from an ex-NFL-player-turned-bodyguard to a strangely-erudite country singer. But what at first seems a straightforward money-drop becomes a convoluted and constricting tangle of circumstance with Evan at its center, struggling against an unknown schemer who seems to know all-too-much about this musician-turned-detective. Soon the police are involved and Evan Horne learns just how cut-throat the music business can be. But this is no prissy tickler of the ivories; this is a man who uses the discipline and perserverance that made him a musician make him a detective. Moody plays out an intricate plot at a masterful pace, creating authentic characters and an atmosphere deeply informed with Moody's experiences as musician, DJ, and historian. Evan Horne is a likeable and resourceful hero who narrates but doesn't preach, who informs as he entertains. Solo Hand is a must-read for anyone interested in those two American pastimes: Jazz and murder.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Solo Hand, May 13, 2007

By 

Jazz Fan Tudie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solo Hand (Paperback)

Although I am a big fan of Bill Moody and this was the only book of his that I hadn't read, I wouldn't purchase this book until the publisher gets their act together. There are chunks of the book that abruptly stop and then a repeat of earlier pages appears. Pages 61-68 are missing and just filled with pages already printed. It happens again on pages 71 and 72. Even without parts of the story being MIA, it isn't his best book. It seems to stray too far from the musical world some of his earlier books inhabited. I was very disappointed.