September Song

April 2, 2012
Set in 1955 London, Murray’s intriguing second hard-boiled noir outing for problem-fixer Tony Gérard (after 2011’s No Hearts, No Roses) finds Tony investigating the disappearances of three very different people, who turn out to have common links. That movie star Philip Graham and the piano player known as Lee are connected isn’t so surprising, but what could they possibly have to do with a girl given up for adoption years earlier? When Tony’s efforts bring him to the attention of the nasty Ricky Mountjoy and other criminals, Tony must rely on his earlier physical training to survive the mobsters who think he knows the location of their stolen product and who killed a pair of henchmen. Meanwhile, working girl Viv Laurence may know more than is good for her health. Jazz clubs and the music of the era as well as reminders of WWII and the Blitz lend color.

April 15, 2012
The war is long over, but the skills Tony Gerard picked up working with the Resistance continue to serve him well on the mean streets of London. Tony does a little accounting for friends and some odd jobs for Les Jackson of Hoxton Films. He's been keeping an eye on one of Jackson's young actors, the trouble-prone Philip Graham--but apparently not closely enough, for Graham has become involved in the drug trade and has some dangerous criminals after his hide. Jazz-loving Tony has meanwhile taken a shine to Jeannie Summers, a sexy singer whose piano-playing, drug-using husband is arrested for murdering two thugs. So not only does Tony have to try to get Graham out of trouble, but he's beset by Jeannie's pleas to help her husband. Even his boss has begged him to help his former wife, who's dying of cancer, find the daughter she gave up for adoption. Although the various gangs who control London's neighborhoods generally do their best to avoid conflict, suddenly Tony finds himself in trouble with several of them as he attempts to track down some missing merchandise and come up with satisfactory solutions to his three interrelated problems. Tony's second appearance (No Hearts, No Roses, 2011) bolsters its tense tale with plenty of down-and-dirty atmosphere.

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March 1, 2012
Tony Gerard is more Hammet than Chandlerhold the similesbut otherwise, he's right out of the classic hard-boiled tradition. His turf is 1950s London, where he does odd jobs for a film company, mostly riding herd on troublesome stars. This time he's doing his best to keep a dissolute actor out of harm's way. The action swirls around a Soho jazz club, where a sultry chanteuse and her husband, a heroin-addicted piano player, are holding court. Soon enough, Tony finds himself embroiled in the troubles of the singer and the piano man, who are in deep with lowlifes and may be implicated in the murder of a couple of thugs trying to clear the accounts-receivable ledger of a paper bag full of hashish. Murray makes the most of the jazz milieu and adds some tasty backstory about Tony's experience with the French Resistance in WWII. Nothing fancy here, just mainstream hard-boiled fare, heavy on atmosphere and fisticuffs. For those who prefer the Blask Mask era, before PIs had inner lives, this one goes down like a quick shot of bar whiskey (and there's nothing wrong with that).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)