The Right to Sing the Blues

Private eye Al Nudger is a long way from St. Louis, his home, in Lutz's followup to Nightlines. The detective goes to New Orleans, where Fat Jack McGee asks him to investigate blues pianist Willy Hollister, an SRO attraction at McGee's jazz club. The club's singer is Ineida Collins, who calls herself Ineida Mann to keep secret her identity as the daughter of David Collins, a rich and ruthless gangster and McGee's silent partner. Nudger's assignment is to investigate Hollister, who's carrying on an affair with the singer, and to advise her to break up with Hollister when reports about his previous lovers come to light. Those women were killed to give Hollister the heartbreak he expresses in the blues. On this improbable premise, Lutz builds a tense, witty tale that he persuades the reader to believe. January 28