Rhapsody in Blood: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Benjamin Justice Mysteries)

by John Morgan Wilson

Hardcover, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

PS3573.I456974 R485

Collection

Publication

Minotaur Books (2006), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 288 pages

Description

Disgraced journalist Benjamin Justice finds himself enmeshed in two old deaths--a 1950s movie star and the black man lynched for the murder--as well as a new murder, that of a gossip columnist who promised to reveal explosive new information.

User reviews

LibraryThing member wdlaurie
This mystery takes place on the set of a movie that's being shot at the scene of a murder in a remote hotel. Despite a nice setup of plot devices, the mystery ultimately falls flat.

I ended up scanning through the last half of the book.

This mystery should have read like "Ten Little Indians" but it
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had none of the suspense, charm, or wit of Agatha Christie's writing.
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LibraryThing member Carol420
The story is a complex, captivating mystery that approaches to teach lessons about the dangers of bigotry and the shallowness of some people, and how dangerous both can be affecting how we deal with our everyday lives. The author takes the character out of his cozy nest in West Hollywood, teaming
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him with longtime friend, LA Times reported Alexandra Templeton, covering the shooting of a movie at a historic hotel in the remote town of Eternal Springs, now known as "Haunted Springs" due to two murders that took place there, and which is the focus of the film being made. They meet the cast, including the 30ish male lead...a frequent subject of tabloid rumors about his sexuality whose seeming interest in Benjamin has him simultaneously flattered and flustered. When another reporter, known for her merciless "expose'" stories about celebrities, is found murdered with her throat cut (the same as the two victims that are the subject of the film), Benjamin finds himself in the middle of the mystery, with no shortage of colorful suspects around for him to choose from. Was the murderer the actor, who feared the reporter would try to "out" him, or perhaps it was the rapper with the "gangsta" image who seemed to alienate everyone, or the troublemaker midget stuntman, the hotel owner living with a troubling secret from his past, or perhaps it was the ghostlike female figure Benjamin saw on the rocks outside the hotel window, right before the murder took place? Lots of suspects all providing a really good mystery.
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Language

Original publication date

2006

Physical description

288 p.; 8.54 inches

ISBN

0312341474 / 9780312341473

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