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Read The Day The Music Died (1999)

The Day the Music Died (1999)

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Series
Rating
3.62 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0786705698 (ISBN13: 9780786705696)
Language
English
Publisher
carroll & graf publishers

The Day The Music Died (1999) - Plot & Excerpts

This is the first in a mystery series, featuring lawyer Sam McCain, who lives in the small town of Black River Falls, Iowa. It is 1959 and the book begins with Sam and the girl he yearns after, Pamela, watching Buddy Holly on the show which would prove to be his last. If you are a fan of Buddy Holly, then let me just warn you that McCain’s love of rock and roll is something that is mentioned in passing only and to set the scene; Holly himself does not feature in the novel. Each book in the series has the name of a song as the book title and that is more to show the year it is set than anything else. I only say this as many reviews, especially in the States, take great umbrage with the author getting facts wrong. I am not a Buddy Holly fan myself, but the date given as the date of his last show seems to match that I have looked up and, in any case, it is not important to the plot.McCain is a small town lawyer, in a town which has too many lawyers, working for the rather intimidating Judge Esme Anne Whitney. This is very much small town America, with two prominent families fighting for power and reputation – the ‘old money’ Whitney’s and the ‘new money’ Sykes family – one of whom is Chief of Police. McCain does not seem to be in favour with either and he is not a typical hero; short, liberal in a town that is mostly not and unlucky in love. Mostly, he is a nice guy who does his best.After dropping his beloved Pamela home (she is in love with another man, while McCain is not in love with the young girl who actually does care about him), Judge Whitney calls and asks him to go and investigate at her nephew’s house. McCain discovers that the nephew, a man who bullied him at school, claims he shot his wife, before later shooting himself. However, despite the confession, he feels all is not right and attempts to investigate the murder. This first novel really sets the scene of the town and the various undercurrents and tensions going on there. It is an enjoyable mystery – not quite a cosy, but without any graphic violence and an interesting background. Two books seem to be listed as the second in the series – “Will You Love me Tomorrow?” and “Wake Up Little Susie.” As far as I can tell, “Wake up....” is actually the second book – although it is a prequel, so it probably does not matter too much if you read them out of order. I will certainly be reading on in this series.Lastly, a copy of this book was provided, by the publisher, for review.

I thought I would enjoy this book more, having grown up in northern Iowa in the 50s, but there are several major flaws. First, Gorman is a very good writer and I enjoyed the humor in his comments. But when a writer places a story in historical times, I think it behooves him to get the details right. I got the feeling that he looked up 50s culture and just sprinkled the music, clothes, etc. throughout whether the they were typical of 1959 or not. The first big error is on the first page; Buddy Holly and the others died on Feb 3 so the Winter Dance Party was held on the 2nd. I was annoyed throughout the book at the references to the "University of Iowa." In 1959, the name was the State University of Iowa and in common parlance was referred to as SUI. The name change did not come until the mid-60s. Small detail but shows a lack of research. Poodle skirts were long out of style by this time. Hopalong Cassidy was on TV in the early 50s; in 1959, kids would have been watching Mickey Mouse Club or local programming after school. There are many other inaccurate references that caused me to stop and lose track of the plot.More troublesome were all the characters who had committed serious crimes, were blatantly corrupt, or were divorced. Divorce was not nearly that common. Female judges and lawyers were very rare. This was not typical of small town Iowa at the time.The plot is intricate and the main characters well drawn, even when unbelievable. It would be a much better book if the inaccurate detail didn't get in the way.

What do You think about The Day The Music Died (1999)?

I should have enjoyed this book more than I did - the description of it sounded like a book I'd enjoy. I think one of the problems I had with this is that the characters all seemed very one-dimensional and there didn't seem to be any real reason that they acted as they did, except for plot purposes. It also seemed incredibly rushed - here's the plot, here are a bunch of complications - ok, that's enough, here it is all tied up with a bow on top.On the other hand, I thought there was some potential here, too. I think I'll probably read the second book in the series - it may be that now that we've got the basic characters in the small town established and a lot of background already set, the plot may be less pat.
—Sandy

This is a very special 'private eye' series built around a lawyer and special court investigator, Sam McCain, in a small town in the midwest (Iowa) in the fifties and sixties. I absolutely love this series for several reasons:1. the wonderful immersion into a different time, spanning a decade from the late fifties to the late sixties. The descriptions are detailed, evocative, engaging and realistic. They are exceptionally well done.2. The protagonist is a likeable average joe, who is easy to identify with and tells the stories in the first person. His back story is as engaging and interesting as the murder mysteries he gets involved in, and has become the main reason why I have become hooked on this series.3. There are plenty of connections to the pop culture of the fifties and sixties, which is a bonus for any lover of music, books, cinema and culture of the period.4. The mysteries are well crafted and keep you guessing until the end.5. Every single one of the entries in these series is excellent without exception and well worth the read.Give this a try, you won't regret it. I read all 9 books in 2 months and can't wait for the 10th entry, 'Riders' on the Storm', that will appear in October 2014! I hope Mr. Gorman gets the opportunity to write several more before he retires.
—Michael Schramme

The Day the Music Died is the first book in Ed Gorman's series featuring perpetually broke lawyer/P.I. Sam McCain. It was published in 1998 but is now being re-released on Dec. 31th, 2013 by both Mysterious Press and Open Roads Media.. Not coincidentally, this makes it my last review for 2013.I must confess that I decided to read this for the title. I love fiction that has a basis in musical pop culture. For those who don't know, the title is a line from Don Mclean's song American Pie which refers to the airplane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. All of the titles of the Sam McCain novels come from song lines or titles. So my first and biggest disappointment was that Ed Gorman does not use the music very much or as much as I would suspect. The day Buddy Holly dies is the day this mystery begins but very little comes from this tie-in. More disturbingly, the protagonist Sam McCain relates as much feeling to the death of his hero as to the death of his friends which is almost none. I know McCain is a typical macho P. I. but a little insight might have been nice.But laying off of that peeve, I have to admit that this mystery is rather entertaining if a little predictable and flat. McCain finds the spoiled son of his boss, the judge in a small town, with his wife who he presumably shot. The spoiled son then kills himself. it looks like a clear-cut murder/suicide but of course Sam is suspicious.Here we come to the main strength of this novel. Sam investigates and find himself addressed many different people with different strokes in this small town. The authors strong point is making the town and the interactions of its inhabitants a prime part of the puzzle. Gorman has a good feel of small town life in the 50s and it shows. The author uses some social topics well, placing them nicely in the '50 mentality. As a whole, the characters feel real. Yet individually, they seem like cogs in a wheel showing little dimension. I especially wanted to find out more about our main character besides the fact that he is whining about the girl he will never get...at least not in the first novel. While I enjoyed the novel it just didn't hold me enough to think about reading the rest. So I will never know if he gets Ginger or Mary-Lou. (not the names used in the novel. I just couldn't resist the Gillian's Island reference) Or does he forget about Buddy Holly in the nest few years and start digging the Beatles? I'll never know.
—Marvin

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