Synopsis/blurb....
“Evocative, nostalgic, haunting, twisty, and true, Weizmann’s fast paced and smartly written CINNAMON GIRL is everything there is to love about a classic PI novel and more … much more." — Reed Farrel Coleman, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of SLEEPLESS CITY
From the author of the acclaimed The Last Songbird, Lyft driver-turned-sleuth Adam Zantz returns in a neo-noir dive into the dark side of LA’s rock scene . . .
Adam Zantz is still driving for Lyft, struggling to make ends meet, when his beloved former piano teacher makes a deathbed request: He wants Zantz to prove his son’s innocence in a decades-earlier murder case.
There doesn’t seem to be much hope of solving such a cold case—until Zantz stumbles onto a test pressing of a never-released vinyl LP. The recording is of a high school garage band lost to the tides of the Paisley Underground, the acid-fueled early ’80s music scene that spawned the Bangles and the Three O'Clock.
Down the psychedelic rabbit hole Adam falls, tracing the band's journey from the middle class garage to the precipice of fame - a twisted tale marked by crooked DJs, elder-scammers, wellness hucksters, a teen cult, and the woman who held the key to the band’s triumph and ruin.
One part Raymond Chandler, one part Ziggy Stardust, Cinnamon Girl is both an indelible, moving portrait of Los .Angeles, and a suspenseful tale of greed, lust, betrayal, and the hidden price of teenage yearning.
EXTRA! A QR code will be added for the liner notes of the album by The Daily Telegraph. These feature importantly in the novel.
Cinnamon Girl is another really enjoyable read from author Daniel Weizmann and a strong second in series featuring our failed musician, failed nephew, failed cousin, the Lyft driving, wannabe PI Adam Zantz. Cinnamon Girl follows on from his impressive debut - The Last Songbird from 2023.
I do enjoy an unsolved cold case murder investigation with the backdrop of the 80s LA music scene providing another positive box tick for elements of setting.
Zantz answers a deathbed call from a friend of his late uncle and reluctantly agrees to look into the murder of a young hispanic male which his son was accused of. Emil, the son and a hero like figure to the younger Adam was killed while incarcerated as a suspect.
Zantz disappears into a world of secrets, lies, fame, celebrity, crushed dreams, ambition, power, sex, dysfunctional families, loss, disappearance, regret, money and danger.
Before too long, more violent death is visited upon those with a connection to The Daily Telegraph and Zantz himself is looking over his shoulder while still conducting his investigation; all before the clock runs down on his uncle's friend.
To be honest, I'm struggling to do the book justice.
I loved the story; how it unfolded with a nugget of information revealed at a time, each one advancing the story incrementally; the pacing of it; the unexpected twists the author threw in (though without claiming to be a clever clogs, one of the twists I half expected); the characters - the blend of story in respect of the investigation, allied with the personal relationships and the day to day work of a driver; the music scene - the passion, the excitement, the thrill, the buzz, the sense of youth and discovery and the being on the cusp of something powerful and explosive and the almost inevitable crash when it all began to fall apart.
Overall - dramatic, exciting, fast-moving and with an ending that lived up to what had come before - a totally satisfying read.
I look forward to hopefully a 3rd Adam Zantz outing from Daniel Weizmann in 2025!
Read - May, 2024,
Published - 2024 (next week)
Source - reviewer ARC from publisher Melville House
Format - paperback
Page count - 354
