Gal, a onetime rock star, is back in Boston to play a benefit when she sees a familiar face in the crowd. When that man is found dead the next day and a friend charged, Gal starts an informal investigation, and as the memories flood back she finds she must reexamine her own wild life, her perceptions of the past, and an industry that monetizes dysfunction. In her Massachusetts Book Award “must read” World Enough, Clea Simon explored the dangers of nostalgia. In Hold Me Down she follows the beat to a darker, deeper tale of love, music, and murder. With this in mind, I approached this post thinking it couldn’t be that hard to find mysteries and thrillers starring musicians. As it turns out? I was wrong. Apparently, unlike journalism, a music career does not lend itself well to amateur sleuthing. However, the books I did find? The quality of these musical mysteries more than makes up for the low quantity. In these eight novels, the protagonists are not only professional musicians: music is an integral part of the story, and the mystery, itself. Most of them are cozy mysteries, but beware: I included a couple of thrillers that are as painful as they are brilliant. In the mood for more musical novels? Say no more.
