I have become totally hooked on this series after reading this one. I love the cadence and rhythm of jazz that suffuse the books and Nanette Hayes is a wonderful protagonist- sassy, streetwise but also showing moments of weakness and self questioning, with a lot of trouble landing on her doorstep. Be sure to check out Coq Au Vin and Drumsticks too!

Nanette is an interesting character but overall the story didn't hold my interest. The mystery itself and the other characters left something to be desired.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Saxophonist Nanette Hayes, a majestic five-foot-ten-inch Grace Jones lookalike with hot style, lives for the music of her jazz forebears. Self-taught Nan is no Charlie Parker, but she dreams big. She performs regularly—on the sidewalks of New York City. Not exactly the Village Vanguard, but it pays the bills in ways that her master's degree in French does not. Mostly, Nanette just tries to stay cool in the face of the worst kinds of hardship. Recently, this has taken the form of getting dumped—hard—by her live-in boyfriend, Walter.
When her normally messy life is at its epic messiest, fellow street musician Sig walks up, and—after insulting her playing and narrowly missing being hit by a bus—changes everything. Out of nowhere, sixty grand that can't possibly be legit appears in Nan's sax. Suddenly she is contending with two grisly murders, a former lover who wants her back, a jazz-obsessed ex-con, and some scarifying cops who are trying to shake her down.
Equal parts tough and romantic, Nanette uses her street-musician smarts and her New York City savvy to try to save her own skin and solve a musical mystery no less a legend than Bird himself.

Alright, I don't quite know what to say about this...

Marks for making Nanette a slightly interesting character? I suppose...

But the mystery, the characters and the dialogue were oh-so dreary that I really did struggle to get to the end. Such a shame cos Nanette deserved a far better story than this.


Paul
ARH