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Katy Green is a professional musician; she can play either alto saxophone or violin, swing or classical. Originally from New York, she's recently gotten a job in California. The band engagement has finished and Katy is now living at the YWCA while haunting the musicians' union hall in an effort to get a gig and make enough cash to move back east. While killing time on the Santa Monica boardwalk one Sunday she meets an old lover, band leader Ted Nywatt. Ted has accompanied one of the members of his all girl band to the shore where his friend has an accident that puts her into the hospital. This was an unlucky break for Louise (a violinist), but lucky for Katy who takes her place as an Ultra Belle. Katy has to move fast to learn the music and get fitted for costumes, as they are leaving the next day on a tour by train up the California Coast from LA to San Francisco. Of course as the train progresses from gig to gig, and city to city, more and more mysterious things occur. Katy, who apparently had helped solve a similar crime previously, works hard to solve this one before there is no band left. This book was quite a treat to read. Glatzer seems to have done his homework regarding the era just before the US enters the Second World War -- at least it rang true to me. Since I was born just two years after the this book takes place I have always tried to read and learn as much about the pre-World War II and World II era as I can. I am definitely not an expert, but often wince when a writer doesn't take the time to research his material; too obvious an error can ruin an entire story. It was an era with much stricter dress codes and rules of behavior. 1940 was also a time when it was even more difficult than it is presently for a woman to make her way as a band musician in any role other than singer. In Too Dead To Swing, there are a large number of characters to keep track of, and of course in a book this size not a lot to time for the author to flesh them out. However, since the main character is just meeting the other band members, and since the whole story takes place in the course of just seven days, the reader learns as much about each person on this journey as one would if actually traveling with strangers for so short a time. It is interesting that Hal Glatzer first wrote, produced, and distributed this mystery as an audio play performed by professional actors. This could be also the reason that one gets no fuller picture of what drives the protagonist than one would in a short story or novella. Additionally the settings, crimes, clues and red herrings are typically those that would entertain and work well if performed on a stage. It has been my experience that books written based on a movie or play, instead of the other way around, can be heavy going. However, having said all that, this novel still seems to break that stereotype. I sincerely hope the author continues with the series and in a future book he fleshes out Katy's character, allows us a closer look at her life and what led her to a career as a professional musician.
Reviewed by Martha Hopkins, April 2002
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