Boiled in Concrete: 2a Martin Fender Mystery

The fatal shooting of a small-time record producer launches the disappointing third adventure (after Tough Baby ) of rock bassist and part-time private eye Marty Fender. Down and out in L.A. and homesick for Austin, Tex., Marty agrees to join a midnight recording session for Cyclone Davis, who insists he has proof that legendary R & B great Rockin' Dog James did not die in a plane crash in the Rockies in 1984 and is still alive. But shortly thereafter, Cyclone is murdered. Marty returns to Austin and hooks up with Dovie De Carlo, once James's backup singer and lover, who has hit the top of the charts singing the songs James left behind. A survivor of the crash, Dovie says that James and bassist Preston Drake began to search for help but vanished in an avalanche. The appealing Marty uses his knowledge of rock and his brains to unearth the truth and expose the blackmail and fraud of an unsavory gang of rockabilly hangers-on, who will pay for their schemes with their lives. Sublett gives this overlong story a hackneyed twist and peoples it with too many inarticulate characters. (Apr.)