Steel Guitar

by Linda Barnes

Overview

A Boston PI tries to help a musician friend—and find a murderer—in this “gripping” mystery by an Anthony Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly).
 
Six-foot-tall, redheaded ex-cop and Boston-based private eye Carlotta Carlyle is “the genuine article: a straightforward, funny, thoroughly American mystery heroine” (New York Post).
 
She may be Boston’s most tenacious private detective, but by night, Carlotta Carlyle is just another cab driver hustling for an honest buck. When blues superstar Dee Willis climbs into her cab, Carlotta isn’t starstruck—she’s shocked. The two women were friends in college, right up until the day Dee ran off with Carlotta’s husband. Now Dee is back in town to play a sold-out concert and Carlotta is too surprised to introduce herself—or to wonder why her old pal is asking to be dropped off in one of Boston’s roughest neighborhoods.
 
After saving the blues diva from being ripped to shreds, Carlotta agrees to help her track down an old friend. Soon, a blackmail plot concerning stolen song lyrics is uncovered and a corpse is found in Dee’s hotel room. Carlotta will have to work fast to keep her old friend from becoming yet another casualty of the blues.
 
Steel Guitar is the 4th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504068451
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Series:	Carlotta Carlyle Series , #4
Pages:	206
Sales rank:	745,610
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Linda Barnes is the award-winning author of the Carlotta Carlyle mystery series. Her witty, private investigator heroine has been hailed as “a true original” by Sue Grafton. Barnes has also written the Michael Spraggue mystery series and a stand-alone novel, The Perfect Ghost. A winner of the Anthony Award and an Edgar and Shamus Award finalist, she lives in the Boston area with her husband and son. You can visit her at www.LindaBarnes.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Another of Barnes’s superb mixes of warmth, enthusiasm, clever plotting, vivid characters, and overall brio.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“The most refreshing, creative female character to hit mystery fiction since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” —People
 
“Cleverly plotted and zestfully related. . . . A characteristically gripping tale, packed with taut, energy-charged images.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Carlotta—tall, vivacious, sensitive—unravels all the knots with breathtaking verve, leaving the reader gasping for more. Super.” —Library Journal
 
“Carlotta is terrific company.” —The New York Times
 


“Another of Barnes’s superb mixes of warmth, enthusiasm, clever plotting, vivid characters, and overall brio.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“The most refreshing, creative female character to hit mystery fiction since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” —People
 
“Cleverly plotted and zestfully related. . . . A characteristically gripping tale, packed with taut, energy-charged images.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Carlotta—tall, vivacious, sensitive—unravels all the knots with breathtaking verve, leaving the reader gasping for more. Super.” —Library Journal
 
“Carlotta is terrific company.” —The New York Times
 

From the Publisher

Tall, red-haired private eye and part-time cab driver Carlotta Carlyle returns for her fourth, cleverly plotted and zestfully related adventure. in which she must deal with her past. Her former best friend, singer Dee Willis, in Boston to begin a tour, hires Carlotta to find a mutual friend, bass player Davey Dunrobie. Carlotta is suspicious--not, she tells herself, because Dee walked off with her husband Cal Therieux, but because Dee isn't the type to pay to have someone located for old time's sake. Dee finally admits that Davey has claimed that she stole his songs and owes him $300,000. The singer wants to talk to Davey, but when she finds the body of her current bass player in her hotel room, she begs Carlotta to stop the search. Intrigued by Dee's plea and angered by the ransacking of her own home, Carlotta decides to investigate. Barnes ( Coyote ) turns out a characteristically gripping tale, packed with taut, energy-charged images. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

With short, sparkling paragraphs and an excited emotional demeanor, Barnes dives into her newest Boston diversion. After the cab-driving Carlotta saves old friend, now blues star, Dee Willis from publicity and prosecution in a dangerous park incident, Dee hires her to find their long-ago mutual heartthrob Davey Dunrobie. Davey claims that Dee has plagiarized several of his songs. When Dee discovers a murdered band member in her bed, she realizes Davey means business. Carlotta--tall, vivacious, sensitive--unravels all the knots with breathtaking verve, leaving the reader gasping for more. Super.

Library Journal

Boston's p.i. Carlotta Carlyle, a six-foot, redheaded ex-cop, still drives a cab when business is slow (Coyote, etc.). Her passenger one night is singer-guitarist Dee Willis, once a close friend in a turbulent period of Carlotta's life and the woman with whom Carlotta's ex-husband Cal had decamped. Dee, after years of career ups and downs, has had a blockbuster record, is in Boston for a sellout concert, and is about to sign with media mega-giant MGA. She's also in trouble. Davey Dunrobie, another figure from the past, is claiming, with a lawyer's letter, that Dee's songs were written by him, and he's demanding big bucks. Dee hires Carlotta to find Davey, but the death of Brenda, her bass player, puts everything else on hold. Is it suicide or murder? Other questions need answers too. What is mobster Mickey Mangenero doing at the fancy MGA bash for Dee? Who trashed Carlotta's house, leaving a "Back Off" message on the bathroom mirror? And how does she really feel about Cal, no longer a druggie, who's discovered in her search for Davey while he's playing his bass in a seedy club? All of Carlotta's energies and resources are needed to find the answers, Davey Dunrobie, and a murderer to boot. Another of Barnes's superb mixes of warmth, enthusiasm, clever plotting, vivid characters, and overall brio.

Kirkus Reviews