A most unusual mystery, this first one by Marian Babson, will surprise as much as amuse. Doug Perkins and Gerry Tate are partners in the PR firm of Perkins & Tate, Ltd.; in cosmopolitan 70’s London. They have a few mom-and-pop accounts that just allow them to eat decently, when the “big one” lands on their lap. They are to handle the PR for a top country music band on tour from the States, by the name of Black Bart and the Cousins. Their hit single “Homesteader” is on everyone’s lips. Black Bart, on the other hand, will be on Doug and Gerry’s nerves for the rest of the job. He is a repulsive, red neck hillbilly from the Ozarks, who yells his orders despotically and basically mistreats everybody around him including, but not limited to, his sister Crystal (married to one of the band), and his own wife Lou-Ann, who acts as a comedienne throughout the show.

The story is presented as a VH1 “Behind the Music” episode, as if following the history of any famous band. But it “ain’t jest plain sailin’” with the band as it all seems. Black Bart has an indictment for child molestation in the US that must be kept out of the press; hence the rather surreptitious need for a tour. Half way through the book, Lou-Ann’s mother is run over (accidentally?) by a cabbie and, after a few hours in the hospital, she dies. It was at this point in the book that I wondered if I was reading a mystery or just a plain script for a TV movie. Of course, Maw Cooney (that is the victim’s name) was murdered, but one wouldn’t know it if it weren’t for the jacket blurb. The fact that the old woman’s last words are: “That bastard pushed me!” (page 103), are not to be taken into account, as any mystery fan would be wise to interpret; especially when, as Doug Perkins puts is “they’re all bastards.”

I have to admit the characters are extremely well portrayed. I’ll go even further and say any reader could single them out in a crowd after finishing the book, were they real. The dialogues are excellent, reflecting all those American inflexions from the rural South like “… ye com’ down hea!…” and “… ye jest don’t know, y’all…” Black Bart is the villain we all love to hate, and he is by far the best-portrayed character. This is good, since he is the center of the story. His wife Lou-Ann, is the typical innocent, talented young girl exploited by everyone including her own mother. Her ill-fated mother reminded me of Jonbenet Ramsey’s: the typical stage parent who pushes her child to the limits of stardom, and usually pushes too much. The Cousins are a number by themselves, they just play whenever Bart snarls a few words at them, the rest of the time behaving like the typical illiterates they are.

Why a hillbilly band from Nashville would be a rocking success in England is beyond me, but then again, the whole novel is to me quite… strange. I would have preferred a more glamorously presented narrative for the idea of a cozy within the Public Relations world. Likewise, a mystery within the music industry is an appealing idea – and one that I haven’t seen taken upon by writers yet – but all the same, the setting should, again, be fleshed out rather differently, maybe showing the band while composing new songs, the tour arrangements and the promotional interviews, to name but a few.

The dénouement comes naturally, but the question remains. Is this a good mystery cozy? From the technical point of view, it is. But for some reason, it just didn’t fulfill me. Babson wraps the story up at the end with a tide-in for the next one in the series, where Perkins & Tate will be contracted to manage the PR for a high profile cat show. Hopefully, it will be more forthcoming and less odd than this one.

Marian Babson was born in Salem, Massachusetts, but has lived in London for the greater part of her life. She has worked as a librarian and was co-editor of a machine-knitting magazine, despite the fact that she can't knit. She also served as secretary to the Crime Writers' Association and is now a full-time writer and her many interests - theatre, cinema, art, cooking, travel, cats, etc. - are reflected in her books.

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Created Jan 12, 2004 at 5:46pm • Submit your own review...