A Case of Lone Star (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Semiretired country music star, amateur sleuth Kinky Friedman is the star of his own show in this follow-up to Greenwich Killing Time. The Lone Star Cafe, on the edge of Greenwich Village, is East Coast mecca for country-and-western musicians and fans. Although business improves after three well-known stars are killed, management experiences some difficulty booking new acts. Asked by both the owner and club manager to step in, Kinky focuses on a letter containing Hank Williams lyrics, which each victim received before his final appearance. Hard-drinking, cigar-smoking Kinky comes up with a list of suspects, including a cocaine-dealing lawyer, the author of a just-published Williams' biography and a luscious blond photographer from England. But to get his man in the end, Kinky must carefully examine Hank Williams's last sad tour and then get back on stage himself. Though a little thin on plot, with a photographic red herring that won't fool those who know what numbers look like printed backwards, the second Kinky Friedman mystery offers insider dope on country music and the Lone Star and is filled with rough-edged, somehow agreeable Village atmosphere.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The Washington Post

"To borrow a Kinkyism, this book is Killer Bee."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vandam Press, Inc. (August 1, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0970238312
• ISBN-13: 978-0970238313
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,401,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kinky vs. Hank Williams, November 5, 2001

By	William Fare (Cedar Rapids, IA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kinky Friedman's 2nd detective novel, Case of Lone Star, is better than his first simply because it takes place in the music world, Kinky's other love. Our country singing, cat-owning, cigar smoking part-time detective (with a new espresso machine) once again falls into a string of murders. This time, however, the killer is using the music of Hank Williams to drop his clues.

I'll admit that Kinky's mysteries are a little too pat sometimes. The killers always leave "real" clues (not the kind you have to find, the kind you get in the mail or on the doorstep). But, the detective work is sound and that's still not the best thing about this book...the greatest gift we get here is the feel of the music business and the club life (and the people who inhabit that world). I always think of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder with a guitar when I read the tales of detective Kinky, and that's a compliment indeed.

It's an easy read, it's a true page-turner, and it's funny as hell. What more you want?

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, November 10, 2000

By	ariel goldberg (bethesda, MD, USA) - See all my reviews

As far as kinky freidman goes, this is not a very good effort. That does not mean it is not a good novel, however. It is tremendously funny, and just a tad sexy. If you are first getting started on kinky, then maybe you should start with another one. This book is only for serious freidman fans only.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Quips but Lacking in Substance, May 6, 2009

By	Bonnie Brody "Fairbanks Reader" (Fairbanks, Alaska) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This mystery has lots of good one-liners and clever, hip quips but is a real minus on substance. It's fun to read but not nearly as good as Kinky Friedman's other books.