Looking for Chet Baker

This is the fifth in a series featuring the reluctant detective Evan Horne who is a jazz pianist. He always finds himself involved in the solution of a mystery that concerns a real life musician. Because Bill Moody is a jazz drummer and journalist, he brings a certain authenticity to his stories and if you don't watch out, he may cause you to buy some new CDs. His other books were about Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Clifford Brown, and this one is set in Amsterdam where Chet Baker died in 1988 when he either fell or was pushed from a hotel window. Poor Evan, he just had a gig and then he finds himself once again mixed up with the police! I have enjoyed each one of the Evan Horne books, waited for this one for about a year, recommend the series to all musicians and mystery lovers...

Jazz pianist Evan Horne is drawn into the life and death of musician Chet Baker in this story of an investigator who tries to get away from his career on a trip to London for a gig. When he discovers his fellow musician and hero has disappeared, and Chet Baker's paperwork becomes the only clue to his whereabouts. Fast, involving intrigue with a twist.

One of the frustrating limitations of writing a mystery novel based on a real and continuing mystery, must be the small amount of wiggle room available in which to be creative and still be faithful to the facts that are known. Thus in this case the real story is the time, place and setting of the jazz world in which Chet Baker lived his last weeks and died under mysterious circumstances. Having read the four previous jazz mysteries by Bill Moody, and enjoyed each of them, I found this one to be the best. The story, mostly set in Amsterdam, is atmospheric, and keeps the reader's interest all the way through both with jazz related information and the longing to know whatever might be learned from the author's research into the strange and sudden death of Chet Baker. This is a lean book that sticks to the point without either going off on tangents, losing its way in sub-plots or developing any bazaar theories. This story of what might have happened to Chet Baker is both realistic and satisfying.

After the serial killer fiasco in Ls Angeles (BIRD LIVES) and counseling in New York, jazz pianist Evan Horne flees to London to star in a week long gig. His friend Professor Ace Buffington is also in the city following a sabbatical from UNLV. Ace pleads with Evan to join him in Amsterdam to research a biography on music legend Chet Baker, who died either by suicide or homicide in the city. Evan refuses remembering the trouble that occurs whenever he works with Ace such as he did on the Clifford Brown recording. Evan travels to Amsterdam for another gig after his successful performances at Ronnie Scott's place. He stays at the same hotel that Chet took that nose-dive in 1988. Ace has already checked out of that hotel so Evan feels relieved that he will not get involved in another case. However, Evan cannot resist peaking inside the room Baker dived through the window. When Evan sees Ace's satchel containing his notes, he becomes concerned for his friend. He begins making inquiries that force him to follow the last days' trail of Chet Baker. Readers looking for an entertaining, but a bit different kind of an amateur sleuth tale will enjoy LOOKING FOR CHET BAKER and the other novels in the Horne series. The story line provides insight into jazz (past and present) while spinning an engaging mystery involving a real persona. Evan plays the right notes so that the audience feels as if they attend a masterful concerto written by talented Bill Moody, whose love for jazz shines through each Horne selection.Harriet Klausner