Tender Is Levine

In 1950 Midtown Manhattan, NBC Symphony second violin Fritz Stern visits private investigator Jack LeVine. Fritz, who has been with the symphony for over a decade, firmly believes that someone kidnapped the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. Stern bases his assessment on the fact that the great conductor could not remember the evening's program when the symphony performed for President and Mrs. Truman. Still a paying client is a client so Jack accepts the case.Stern tells Jack to start with the nasty Sidney Aaron, NBC vice president for Special Programming. Following that meeting, Jack concludes something is not right at NBC. However, things turn ugly when someone kills Stern. Jack stays with the case, which takes him to Cuba and the Mafia, but not any closer to learning the truth even with his life now on the line.TENDER IS LeVINE is a fabulous historical mystery that works because Andrew Bergman makes 1950 seem so real that it in turn anchors the mystery and Jack. The story line is fast-paced and the investigation is fun to watch, but this tale belongs to the period as history has never unfolded any better than this superb detective tale.Harriet Klausner