Product Description
“Swing just might be the best historical thriller of the year. Certainly it is the most creative.”
–Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the swinging big band era, jazz saxophonist and arranger Ray Sherwood is haunted by personal tragedy. But when Gail Prentice, a beautiful and talented Berkeley student, seeks his help in orchestrating an original composition slated to debut at the newly created Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, Ray is diverted from his worries and drawn to the beguiling coed. Within moments of their first meeting, however, Ray witnesses a horrifying sight: a woman plunging to her death from the island’s emblematic Tower of the Sun.
Ray soon finds himself trapped in a coil of spiraling secrets in which nothing is certain, including Gail’s intentions toward him and her connection to the dead woman. And as events speed toward the shocking climax, Ray must unlock an ominous puzzle with sinister implications that stretch far beyond anything he could imagine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

So Well Written it'll Make You Cry
It's 1940 and jazz sax player Ray Sherwood has been on the run from the bad memory of his daughter's accidental death for a long time. As the book opens he is traveling with the Jake Donovan Orchestra. They are coming into San Francisco to play at the Claremont Hotel. The city has a new Island as the Army Corps of Engineers has just built Treasure Island (I thought it had always been there) to house the Golden Gate Exposition.

Ray gets a mysterious invite to meet a young college girl their for breakfast, but another girl gets to him first with a wild proposition. Then not long after, she jumps from the Exposition's Tower of the Sun. Was it suicide? The police think so. Is she somehow connected with Gail Prentice the coed who wanted to meet Ray in the first place? Miss Prentice wants Ray to write a musical score for a whole orchestra of an award winning piano piece she's written, so that a Japanese band can play it at the Exposition. She offers him hardly any money, but he agrees anyway, she is young, he is smitten.

This book is slow to get into the whodunnit and why part of the mystery, but you absolutely will not care, because it is so beautifully written. Plus, Mr. Holmes describes the era and feelings of America just before her entry into the war so well that you'll believe you are there. There are good guys and bad guys, spies and mystery in this book. And I'll tell you one other thing, after you finish this book you'll be going to your nearest music store hunting up some swing albums.

Didn't See It Coming
It took a while for this story to unfold, but once it did, it was great fun.I had never heard of the Golden Gate International Exposition, and found the historical facts and pictures to be an added plus to this quick paced book.I would have given it five stars, but the the author went into too much detail with the music composition stuff, and since I have no idea how to read music, let alone write it, those areas of the book left me a little confused.

Highly recommended to jazz and swing lovers.

A good mystery
I'm not sure what I expected of a mystery from seventies songwriter Rupert Holmes, who went on to enjoy success as a playwright on Broadway and as a TV writer, but it was an enjoyable read.

This story is set in San Francisco just before the US entry into WW2. The main character is Ray Sherwood, a member of a touring big band.

The story unfolds with lots of red herrings and some incredible co-incidences amongst the impressive period detail. Sherwood is a touring musician who wrestles with the skeletons in his cupboard and whilst his character is engaging, he seems somewhat naïve at times to be truly credible as the sleuth he turns out to be.

Although slow to start, the story reaches its crescendo through a number of twists, switchbacks and musical references that introduce espionage and intrigue.

The pace of the story quickens in the last quarter of the book and whilst the action scenes didn't always work for me, I found myself with a real page-turner.

Swing:I know it like the back of my hand.
If your a jazz musician who grew up playing big band music and hung out in the SF east bay area, and knew the UC Berkeley campus, and have been to the top of the campanile and seen/heard the carilon, ventured in to the Fruitavale district of Oaland, heard live music at the Claremont Hotel, studied music composition (so you could decode the secret message), did music copying and some arranging, old enough to know the time reference (born 1942) of the book, is of Japanese American ancestry, and you enjoy reading a good mystery.
This book's for you.

Swinging low
I wanted to like this; I expected to like this; I didn't like it. I grew up in the San Francisco area, I enjoy swing and jazz, but my interest in the setting and the music in this story could not save it. Even as a 1940 period piece it fell short of the mark, as the characters behave and talk as people do today. What "period" we get is mostly in the form of eating or drinking at bygone diners and bar lounges, buying the popular snacks of the time, and other such trivia.

What bothers me most is the unnatural and stilted dialogue. I can honestly say that I've never seen dialogue filled with so many names, repeated over and over. It's "Ray" this and "Nancy" that and "Gail" this and "Martha" that. Or maybe I'm wrong and people in 1940 always said the person's name in every sentence?

There are problems with the mystery itself. First, don't go looking for "clues" to solving the mystery in the music on the CD - they're not there! The music is fine, but it's just music. We are told near the end that one song contains clues, but there's no way for readers to deduce this. My saying this is not a spoiler, by the way, but it just might save you the trouble of trying to figure out something that can't be figured out. I suggest that you simply enjoy the music.

The other problem with the mystery is the final denouement. Again, it's not a spoiler to tell you that Ray solves everything for us, and there's NO WAY anyone can solve this labyrinth from the story or the music. I'm not a regular reader of mysteries, but I know enough to say that this is not a fun or satisfying way to wind one down.

And finally, the music on the CD: I liked it. But the odd thing is, and maybe it's just me, my favorite was the piece that was supposed to be AWFUL. If my taste in music is off, perhaps my critical review here is off as well?

People who have lived in the San Francisco area or have an interest in its history have a better chance at enjoying this book. ... Read more

Product Description
When Josie Welford settles in an idyllic West Country village she honestly believes she can bury her past. She becomes the licensee of the local pub, and becomes a thriving and welcome member of the community. That is until Inspector Nick Thomas, the man who put her husband in jail appears on the scene. But Nick has a new agenda and is no longer after Josie. In his new position as inspector for the Food Standards Agency, he convinces Josie to change her local suppliers, a far from popular move in the close-knit community. Almost immediately she finds herself ostracised and when the village vet disappears without a trace, Josie begins to wonder about the village and what its erstwhile friendly occupants are the hiding? Reluctantly, she finds herself having to turn to Nick in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"A lot of time the truth can hurt everyone."
With its ironic and ambiguous title, this whodunit sets new standards for well developed, fast-paced writing, with complex mysteries within mysteries, and a setting which comes vibrantly alive both in time and place. Set in 1970s Hollywood, "a place where dirt gets a paint job," the story focuses on showbiz stars Lanny Morris and Vince Collins, partners in a hugely successful act, and once best friends, who have not spoken in thirteen years. The Collins/Morris breakup occurred shortly after a beautiful, red-haired woman was found drowned in a bathtub in their hotel room while they were doing a telethon, and narrator K. O'Connor, a brash and well-endowed journalist who is planning to write a biography of Vince Collins, believes that this death is at the root of their breakup.

As O'Connor investigates the victim, interviews Collins, meets with Morris and his attorneys (since Morris plans to write his own story), and flies from Hollywood to New York and Florida, author Holmes incorporates spot-on period detail to recreate the roiling world of high profile performers and the intensity of their high stakes lives. The uninhibited O'Connor will do just about anything to get close to her subjects, and her wryly cynical voice keeps the reader entertained with the story's shifts back and forth in time and location. Her willingness to flout convention and her refusal to become rattled by the escalating tension and threats to her safety provide humor at the same time that they show her to be smart and resourceful.

As one may guess from the title, truth and lies sometimes overlap, and surprise after surprise unfolds for the reader as O'Connor finds herself making assumptions, being proved wrong, making new assumptions based on her discoveries, and finding those wrong, too. None of the characters are quite who they seem to be, and as Holmes's witty and lightning-fast dialogue reveals surprises, his background as a writer for stage and television and his mastery of pacing are obvious.

One of the best mysteries in recent years, the story is beautifully crafted and filled with characters who seem realistic, despite their Hollywood facades and glitzy lives. Twists and turns occur throughout the book, not just at the conclusion, as Holmes alternates relatively quiet scenes with those full of action. Two "dinner scenes," each of which could compete with the famous banquet/seduction scene from 'Tom Jones,' add life and color, and the drug-taking and the uninhibited and sometimes graphic sex seem consistent with the lifestyles of the Hollywood stars and the casual values of biographer O'Connor. A masterfully executed mystery, filled with wit and excitement.Mary Whipple

Swing: A Mystery
Accomplice: A Comedy Thriller

... Read more

Product Description
O’Connor, a vivacious, free-spirited young journalist known for her penetrating celebrity interviews, is bent on unearthing secrets long ago buried by the handsome showbiz team of singer Vince Collins and comic Lanny Morris. These two highly desirable men, once inseparable (and insatiable, where women were concerned), were driven apart by a bizarre and unexplained death in which one of them may have played the part of murderer. As the tart-tongued, eye-catching O’Connor ventures deeper into this unsolved mystery, she finds herself compromisingly coiled around both men, knowing more about them than they realize and less than she might like, but increasingly fearful that she now knows far too much. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

A Real Roller Coaster Ride
Don't you just hate to get your hands on a good book and you don't want it to end?Well, Where the Truth Lies is one of those books.I found out about this book when I was searching the profile of Colin Firth over at the IMDB site, saw that it had been made into a movie and decided to read the book first.I was sucked into the "dead girl in the bathtub" scenario because it sounded like a great mystery.

But while reading this book, I fell in the love with the characters and the dark humor sprinkled throughout.This story takes so many twists and turns, it's impossible to put down and after I finished those last couple of chapters I realized how many of the clues Rupert Holmes had dropped within the first couple of pages of reading.

This is a real gem and I highly recommend it.

Mystery lite
I'm not sure why this book is so highly rated. Didn't really do much for me. Decent enough book and all, but not a knockout, imo.

I think the part that grew most tiresome for me was the central character - she's really quite self-absorbed and a bit too clever for her own good. I guess it all works out for her in the end, but the choices she makes along the way didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Yet despite the seemingly poor judgement, she ends up on top at the end by solving the mystery and...

The '...' means there are two huge cliches that come true at the end that I will not reveal here - but you just want to roll your eyes and groan a bit as they occur.

Anyway, I'd call this a 'mystery lite'.

Sorry I've TriedBut I Can Only Get Through The First Couple Chapters
I was really excited to get this book. I saw Mr. Holmes on the Today Show and his book sounded interesting. A good mystery is always a good read to me.This book is so hard to read because of its many characters.I lost track of who is who after awhile.It's not a fast read!

Gob-smackingly good
Everything you may have heard about this book - whether from the Times of London or the Washington Post - is true. I will use the word 'sensational' here and solemly promise never to use it again.

There were more times than I can remember when I actually had to say to myself (aloud) "calm down, calm down". And not because of the mesmerising storyline but because of the sheer beauty and accomplishment of the writing, all the more so since the book is 'narrated' by a twenty-something female journalist.

As a bonus, not that one were really needed, Holmes has written the best sex scenes in modern fiction (I thought Jane Smiley had already done that in 'Good Faith').

But, strangely and astonishingly, it was only after some three hours had passed since finishing this modern masterpiece that I stopped dead in my tracks and the hair on my neck suddenly rose to attention. Earlier I had wondered how such a perfect evocation of grief and loss had come to be written. And there in the author's acknowledgments right at the end is the answer. A double-whammy indeed.

Drop everything else and read this now.

Embracing the myth

I'm not going to attempt a full review of this book - that's been handled ably by others already.But I want to contribute a brief perspective on the element of the story that resonated so profoundly for me.

There is a wonderfully evocative sequence set in Disneyland that both exposes the artifice of the fantasy and embraces our romantic longing for its own mythology.Once I experienced this part of the book, the significance of the story for my own life leaped out at me.

There is so much of the emotion and dramatic power of our world that feels calculated and artificial, from the stories we see on television to the persona of our politicians to the paper tigers of some of our sports heroes.Everywhere we turn, we slam into the cynical constructs of a world driven by media and marketing.

The message that "Where The Truth Lies" speaks to me is that, in spite of this apparent duplicity in the cultural myths of our lives, the power they have can be undiminished, because that power comes from ourselves, not the corporate manipulations that create their veneer.

Having the behind-the-scenes-workings of Disneyland revealed in the book did little to diminish the romantic and nostalgic wonder the scenes there evoked in me.That theme continues throughout the book, ultimately showing how the double-dealing, self-deception and cynical brutality of the worlds of show business and publishing could not quench the flame of human connection and hope - a flame that flickered all the way to the final wonderful sentence. ... Read more

Product Description

Twenty contemporary writers commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe with chilling stories inspired by the master himself.

Customer Reviews (2)

So like Poe
Every Poe enthuiast will find joy in these what-to-be Poe stories. Some stories even have insight about the sources Poe may have used to create his own memorable stories.

On a Raven's Wing
200 years after his death comes a collection of short stories that demonstrates the indisputable fact that there's no one like the one and only Edgar Allan Poe.The stories in On A Raven's Wing run the gamut from pointless to pretty creepy, but none has the spark of macabre genius of Poe.

The best stories in the book including "William Allan Wilson" "Challenger" "A Nomad of the Night" and "The Cask of Castle Island" reinterpret Poe's originals while preserving most of the original atmosphere.A few, like "The Tell-Tale Purr" and "Development Hell" add a dash of dark humor.Some of the stories fall flat, usually the ones that try to bring Poe himself in as one of the characters.

Overall, On A Raven's Wing has a few entertaining stories, but to really honor and enjoy Poe, you're better off with the master himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Funny and Suspenseful
This is a great play -- it's hilarious and genuinely suspenseful, and it's guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the end.

If you think you may have a chance to see it on stage, don't read it first. Enjoy the surprises as they were meant to be enjoyed -- by seeing a performance.

Otherwise, read it. It's awesome! ... Read more

Product Description
This Charles Dickens novel was adapted for Broadway by Rupert Holmes in 1986, and went on to win 5 Tony Awards. 12 selections: There You Are * A Man Could Go Quite Mad * Two Kinsmen * Moonfall * The Wages of Sin * Both Sides of the Coin * Perfect Strangers * Never the Luck * Off to the Races * Don't Quit While You're Ahead * The Garden Path to Hell * The Writing on the Wall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Diamond in the Rough....."-scary alladin guy
It is hard to get a copy of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (TMOED).Really hard.Especially one that isnt ridiculously expensive.I searched for many years, and ended up paying $50 dollars for a copy.So if you see one cheap, GET IT!

TMOED is an interactive musical in which the audience finishes off the play by voting the ending.This came about since it was a Charles Dickens who-dunnit, and the author died before we learned who, precisely, dunnit.The plot is rather vague, introducing characters left and right with a convoluted story-line.But if you are looking to buy this CD, that is irrevelant.

Thats right.I am here to sell you the music.And the music is worth it.With about a billion songs on the CD, a few are fillers that are just sort of pleasant to listen to.But there are a few songs that make the CD extraordinary rather than the mundane.The reason why I bought the CD was because I had had one of the songs stuck in my head for about a year.Two Kinsman is a remarkable piece, and would be reason enough for purchasing the 25ish songs.The melodies are fresh, but the harmonies are what strike the listener as being new and bold.Other noteworthy tracks include Wages of Sin, Never the Luck, Dont Quite While Youre Ahead, and the rousing finale The Writing on the Wall.The recording is even generous, by providing most of the songs of the outcomes that the audience can vote for.So they dont just give us one ending.With an all star cast that is often forgetten, including Betty Buckly, Donna Murphy, and Cleo Laine, you cannot go wrong in buying this really wonderful recording of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Limited Edition
If you collect goosebumps book, add this one! It has amazing twist and turns great for any reader!It is based on the live show. ... Read more

Product Description
Songbook for the great album. Contains Pina Colada, HIM and the rest. ... Read more

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the "solve it yourself" broadway musical. ... Read more

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6 pages ... Read more

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~184pp. ... Read more

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Word count: 2460. ... Read more