Peter Duchin & John Morgan Wilson. Blue Moon (2002) 320 pp.
It is 1963 and, on the surface, Philip Damon has it all. He is the bandmaster of the Philip Damon Orchestra, lives in a beautiful apartment in New York City, and is on a first name basis with Jackie Kennedy and Truman Capote, among other notables. But deep in his heart he is still grieving for Diana and their unborn child, who were murdered in their apartment while Philip and his orchestra were on the road. The murderer was never caught. Philip and his company are performing at a charity gig in San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel when he momentarily spots a woman who looks almost exactly like his dead wife. The woman, Lenore Ashley, is on the arm of real estate tycoon Terrence Collier III, with whom Diana had been involved before she and Philip met. During the performance, the lights go out momentarily. When they come back on Collier is dead, an ice pick in his chest. Philip is determined to find out if the murders are linked and, if so, how.

H.K.