This
exciting PI mystery from veteran Randisi is the first to feature
Auggie Velez, a Nashville sessions musician who is also a licensed
private investigator. Auggie is immediately engaging as a
protagonist. He is fairly well established on the Nashville music
scene as a reliable sessions man, preferring that work to going on
the road. But the real dream he continues to chase is one day writing
and performing his own music. The PI work, which he began to augment
his sometimes sporadic income, is something he has more recently
ventured into and is therefore less seasoned at; but his basic street
smarts, combined with past military training, a keen sense of the
Music City scene, and the mentorship of the aging private eye who
helped him get his ticket, are all helping to hone his skills.
And
Auggie is soon needing to call on all of this and more after he accepts
a job that appears to be a simple, though somewhat mysterious package
delivery for a big time music producer. When the recipient of said
package, a common briefcase whose contents were never revealed to
Auggie, turns up murdered, Auggie becomes a very prominent “person
of interest”. As the police investigation becomes stalled as far as
any other leads and the music executive who originally hired Auggie
remains reluctant about admitting his role, Auggie is forced to start
digging deeper into the whole mess if for no other reason than to
prove his innocence.
What
ensues amounts to a fascinating tour of Nashville and its many
colorful places and characters. As usual in a Randisi novel, snappy
dialogue carries much of the load. But there also is real depth to
the characterizations of many of the individuals encountered,
including Auggie himself. Perhaps some of the best work Bob has done
in this regard. There is a particularly poignant scene about mid way
through the novel where, after some burglars have broken ito Auggie's
apartment and trashed his personal, deeply treasured collection of
old guitars – after the police have left and he is all alone
starting to clean up the mess – Auggie breaks down and weeps over
the loss that only he can understand the full impact of. Very strong
and brave, I thought, for Bob to bare that much of his protagonist's
soul.
When
finally revealed, the secret of what was contained in the briefcase
is a doozy and the overall conclusion to the case, when reached, is
satisfying. The whole thing is made even more realistic by the fact
that, due to the deaths of some players along the way, not every
minute detail can be fully explained. Nevertheless, enough is
established to clear Auggie and the key bad guys are sufficiently
punished. Even more good news is that – as announced by the
publisher at the close of this book – Auggie will soon be showing
up again in a new case titled THE LAST SWEET SONG OF HAMMER DYLAN.
I'm
definitely looking forward to that and, in the meantime, strongly
recommend THE HONKY TONK BIG HOSS BOOGIE. Don't miss it!
