And All That Madness (Casey KcKie – 4) by Joan Merrill
4 stars
(Excerpt from Goodreads) When the New York Jazz Society acquires a fifty-year old letter from Georgia Valentine, questions arise over the legendary vocalist’s death. Did she give herself a fatal dose of heroin, as the original investigators ruled, or did someone kill her? And if it was murder, what was the motive?
Casey moves her operation from San Francisco to New York to investigate the cold case, questioning Georgia’s musician friends, her widower, a drug dealer, a Broadway actress, a mafia boss and the authorities who declared the death a suicide.
This quest takes Casey to New York’s most venerable jazz clubs, a Harlem nursing home, a mob-owned Italian restaurant, a lesbian bar and One Police Plaza, home of the NYPD. She joins forces with an attractive detective from the Organized Crime unit, and, as the case progresses, so does their relationship.
With no shortage of suspects, Casey ultimately uncovers evidence revealing a surprising killer.
Fifty years ago, famous jazz singer Georgia Valentine’s death was ruled a suicide by an accidental overdose. Recently a private letter written from Georgia to a friend has been discovered and it suggests that Georgia was killed.
PI Casey McKie is intrigued and goes to New York to figure out of Georgia was killed and by who. Casey starts her search with numerous shady jazz clubs, Georgia’s friends and drug dealer, and a mafia boss. She also looks into the investigators that deemed Georgia’s death a suicide.
This was a really good book. You can tell that Joan Merrill loves jazz. As you follow Casey through the investigation you can hear the music in the background. The mystery was great, I didn’t know who did it until the end but everyone had a connection to Georgia and a reason to be a suspect.
This is my first book by Joan Merrill that I have read, but I liked how you could read this as a stand alone book. I liked it so much I will be getting the preceding three books.
About Joan Merrill: Joan Merrill has written five Casey McKie mysteries, all taking place in the world of jazz: And All That Murder (2009), And All That Sea (2010), And All That Stalking (2011). And All That Madness (2012), And All That Motive (2014).
Joan Merrill has worked in the jazz field for over twenty years, producing fourteen shows for NPR’s Jazz Profiles and four shows for the Smithsonian/PRI series Jazz Singers. She’s represented various jazz singers; produced the video documentary “Saying It with Jazz” featuring Carmen McRae and others; and produced three CDs under her own label. She also created and curates the website: carmenmcrae.com.
Merrill is currently producing a musical revue tribute to Doris Day, entitled “Que Sera! Celebrating Doris Day” with Kristi King. See QueSeraTheMusical.com Paperback versions of the Casey McKie mysteries may be purchased at reduced rates from the website: joanmerrill.com.
To purchase And All That Madness or the other books in the series make sure to check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads. You can also find more information on Joan Merrill’s website.
I received this book from Virtual Author Book Tours for free in exchange for a review and to take part in the tour.
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Thanks for taking part in the tour. I’, glad you enjoyed ‘And All That Madness’ so much!