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Readers may know that I like mystery short stories but tend to despair at times about theme anthologies which often miss the mark. Robert Randisi has a real knack for this form though -- as an editor, he seems to be able to find stories by writers that both contain a mystery and serve the theme. Here, the theme is primarily jazz music; we're talking about a somewhat natural connection. Think the Roaring '20s, prohibition and jazz, New Orleans and the birth of jazz, drugs and dark clubs and hip flasks and early mornings. All the elements are there. And they work. There are contributors to this anthology who know the music first-hand -- Bill Moody and John Harvey both play, or used to play. There are mostly familiar authors like Max Allan Collins, and Ed Gorman, Julie Smith and Randisi himself. The surprisingly upbeat tale here was Michael Connelly's excellent story featuring Harry Bosch. Featuring a good, solid crime narrative, Christmas Even made me smile; it's really sweet without a touch of goo. Peter Robinson's very creepy The Magic of Your Touch is not what you'd expect from the creator of Alan Banks, but whoooo, it works. Laura Lippman's The Shoeshine Man Regrets was the first story I read; I'm a big fan of Tess Monaghan and her creator and this short story of murder uncovered in an almost accidental way was completely satisfying. There's almost never 100 per cent satisfaction in any anthology. There are only 13 stories here, most of them by writers whose work I know. It didn't matter if I'd read their longer fiction or not, I tried each story and a few didn't work for me. So what? The theme and the scenes are evocative; habits and jealousy and dreams all are explored in the late nights in a jazz club, and whether you get happy endings or sad songs, even if you're not that big a fan of jazz (which admittedly I'm not) I got the mood and the idea and the feeling I was meant to have. It's a good introduction to some awfully good writers if you want a chance to sample Les Roberts or John Lutz; even if stories are totally different from the series these writers usually are associated with, they're worth your time. Randisi suggests you read the book to the soundtrack of Chicago. I dunno, I'd say go darker and older. Go back. I'd listen to Miles Davis, Coltrane, or even settle in with some blues, or the brilliant Ella Fitzgerald. Jazz has a broad range; something to suit everyone -- hey, just like the stories in this collection.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, December 2004
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