JOSEPH KOENIG - REALLY THE BLUES

Synopsis/blurb……

Eddie Piron thinks that performing in jazz clubs in Nazi-occupied Paris is bad enough, but when the drummer in his band is found facedown in the Seine and the police start asking questions, he realizes that his trouble is only beginning Paris, 1941. American jazz musician Eddie Piron has lived in the city of light since before the war began. But Paris under occupation is not what it once was, and things are looking a lot darker for a man like Eddie. The great jazz artists of the day, like Django Reinhardt, are lying low or being swept away under the racial policies of the Nazis. But the SS has a paradoxical taste for the "negermusik" and their favorite gathering place is La Caverne Negre, where Eddie leads the band. One night the drummer for "Eddie et Ses Anges", an indifferent musician but an essential part of the band, disappears. When his body is found in the Seine the next day, Eddie becomes entangled in the murder investigation. He soon finds himself in the clutches of a mercenary intelligence broker who discovers why Eddie Piron is really in Paris and what he's really hiding.

Joseph Koenig’s debut novel Floater was one of those first crime reads that helped hook me on the genre. Floater was originally published in 1986 and was nominated for an Edgar. In between 1986 and 1993, Koenig had 4 books published before disappearing from the shelves until 2004 when he returned with a novel titled, *Osud. (Osud is the only one of his books that doesn’t sit on my shelves and was apparently released by Vantage Press, who were a “vanity publisher” until closing doors a year or two ago.) After this he vanished until 2012 when Hard Case Crime released False Negative. After only a two year gap this time around he’s back with Really the Blues.

* @1MorePage (Pamela Malpas - Literary Agent at Harold Ober Associates) tweeted me lunchtime to advise Osud is actually by an author of the same name BUT NOT THIS Joseph Koenig! Happy to set the record straight - 1 less book on the wish-list and it actually stretches his time in the wilderness to nearly 20 years.

Set in Paris in 1941, we are in the company of American jazz musician Eddie Piron and life under the Nazi occupation. Eddie isn’t too interested in the politics of the time as long as he can play his music and spend some time with his rich girlfriend. Events conspire to change his outlook and bring him some unwanted attention from the occupiers. The drummer in his band disappears and turns up dead; its murder arranged to look like suicide. The drummer’s girlfriend dies next in a gas explosion, or does she? Add a blackmailer to the mix, threatening to reveal Eddie’s history to the occupiers and his beau and life in war-torn Paris is losing some of its appeal.

With Eddie’s girlfriend pregnant and harbouring a few right-wing views. It’s an uncomfortable time when he reveals his bloodline – he’s an octoroon - and whilst he might be able to “pass” successfully in Paris, back in New Orleans – a city he left in a hurry – he’s subject to the same laws and discrimination as other non-whites. His girlfriend doesn’t take the news well and Eddie life takes a much greater turn for the worse as a result.

With a target on his back and a limited number of friends; the last thing Eddie needs is a visit from the resistance and a plea for help.

Joseph Koenig

Great story, interesting main character in Eddie, a fantastic setting in occupied Paris, with the portrayal of life as a Parisian under occupation; the struggle to survive, the routine informing against strangers in a bid to curry favour from the Germans and the machinations of the SS adding to the drama. The supporting cast of characters, in particular the SS odd couple of Colonel Maier and Major Weiler topped the book off wonderfully.

Drama, murder, music, intrigue, race, politics and history all blended expertly to produce an amazing read.  

5 from 5 – welcome back Joseph Koenig!

2015 might be the time to dig out some of his back list!

Really the Blues was published in August by Pegasus Crime. Thanks to Iris Blasi at the publishers for my copy.