Death in E minor 9 by Durden Kell
What's It About?
Very touchy people, those struggling jazz musicians: just looking to get gigs, ply their craft and gain a little respect for their art and creativity. Very sensitive indeed. But so much so that you have to commit murder?Very touchy people, those struggling jazz musicians: just looking to get gigs, ply their craft and gain a little respect for their art and creativity. Very sensitive indeed. But so much so that you have to commit murder?
Author Durden Kell would have you believe that in her jazz crime novel, Death in E minor 9 [mm] (Blue Room Books).
A serial killer is stalking the local jazz community around Atlanta and the death count mounts fast as the plot unfolds. Our protagonist, known as Adman, is a prominent sax player who sees the commonality of local band musicians becoming victims and tries to piece things together.
What would motivate the killer? And was it a fan? A fellow musician? A singer? Songwriter? Show promoter? Who?
GET WITH THE BEAT
Adman lives in a world where musicians constantly audition around town in local clubs to jam with the house bands. And he understands the scene: “Not everyone works well together, and if somebody comes in with an attitude that their shit doesn’t stink and they should be treated like a genius and that the performance is all about them, well, the band just might not be nice to them – and rightly so.”
Adman suspects this might be the case, and his theory is validated by anonymous letters he receives at home from the killer, who gives off enough clues to assure that he knows Adman and is part of the local jazz community himself.
In one of his letters, the killer implies that local musicians have been mean to him and it has caused him great pain. “So I had to do something … Lessons had to be taught. Maybe somebody would learn from the lessons but not the ones I teach them to because they are dead.”
Adman decides to hold a summit at his house with the local musicians, believing that if they put their heads together and systematically eliminate potential suspects the process might lead them to the killer.
A JAZZY MYSTERY
The story is fast-paced and easy to read. And the author, a jazz singer and songwriter in her own right, presents a colorful and realistic picture of a local jazz environment: the venues, the performers, their struggles and the music. It is clear from her descriptions that she intimately understands the lay of the land.
If you like jazz and if you like mysteries, pick up Death in E minor 9 [mm] – there’s plenty of both to enjoy along this swift ride.
