JAMAICA BLUE

As a freelance music reviewer, columnist, and bestselling author of a true-crime book about a murdered rock star, Mick Sever has seen it all. But he still hasn’t seen anything quite like Derrick Lyman, the charismatic Rastafarian reggae rapper who can sweep a crowd off its feet with the opening two lines of a song. Fueled by the report Sever files at the behest of veteran promoter Bobby Vane, Derrick and the Laments are soon ready to make the leap from Jamaica to Miami. There’s just one public-relations problem: the murders of two young women just after the Laments concerts they’d attended. Don’t rock the boat, Bobby warns Sever, who “can’t quit asking the questions.” Even after a third girl is killed during a post-concert celebration aboard publisher Frankie Romano’s yacht, local homicide detective Harry Kohls seems determined to get with Bobby’s program. First he pins the murder on Roland Jamison, one of two brothers who provides security for the Laments, even though Roland’s white shirt sports only a single smear of blood, scant evidence of the brutal stabbing he’s accused of. When stronger evidence of Roland’s innocence arrives, Kohls just switches gears to whatever explanation will make the fewest waves. Only Sever and his ex-wife Ginny continue to push for the truth.

The Jamaican background and peeks inside the publicity machine behind up-and-coming music stars are so tangy that you may forget just who did what to whom. Try testing your memory of the ungainly debut mystery a week after turning the last page.