Leafing Through Pages – Nashville Noir (Murder, She Wrote # 33)

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Stars: 3 / 5

Recommendation: All in all a decent plot and a might effort from Jessica to exonerate an innocent girl. Even though abrupt ending, I still think it’s a neat cozy mystery for those rainy days or for those snowy days where you can curl up by the fire and enjoy the read.

Nashville in Noir is the 33rd novel in the long-running Murder She Wrote series co-written by Donald Bain & fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. It was first published on April of 2010. Jessica is sent to Nashville when one of the Cabot Cover resident’s daughter, Cyndi Gabriel, is charged with murder of a brash music producer. Now Cindy and her family rely on Jessica to solve the crime, free her from the charges and give her a chance for encore in her music career.

This is my take on the series of books written by a plethora of authors and Jessica Fletcher (fictional author) based on the 80s and 90s popular American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote. These books are ghost written by Donald Bain and fictional author Jessica Fletcher for the first 43 books until 2015. Then Donald Bain wrote these with Renee Paley Bain and Jon Land for four more books. After Donald Bain passed away in 2017, Jon Land alone took the baton and continued with Jessica Fletcher for 5 more books until 2020. Starting 2021 the series was picked by Terrie Farley Moran again pairing with the fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. As of 2023, 56 books have been written in this series. They are all written in first person narration.

The book opens with a beautiful song written and composed by David A. Stewart. Not sure if the real David Stewart had written this or not but the lines are beautiful. I couldn’t find anywhere to assert that.

We get a lot of history as usual from Jessica’s eyes she explores Nashville – both good and shady neighborhoods – as she tries to find the real killer and exonerate Cindy. Again we see a different way of police procedures by the police at Nashville.

I was confused at one thing though. Didn’t the CCC – Cabot Cove Cares – have a recording of the song that Cindy sang in Cabot Cove, before sending a copy to Roderick the music executive? That could have clearly shown that the song was Cindy’s and that Sally Prentice has stole it from her. I wonder why that was not brought up at any point to prove the conspiracy that Roderick was running,

I also wish Bain had rectified several errors with various characters – wife’s names are different in different books; last names are different; occupations are different. Also may be Bain should tone down Jessica’s rumination about always telling that she doesn’t want to be part of a murder investigation. She inadvertently cannot stop her curious brain so he should just make it her character rather than keep giving a sort of guilt feeling for her.

The ending was different than normal that I expected. She confronts the killer very abruptly without any inclination that she was ready to reveal them. It felt a bit rushed and abrupt for me.

All in all a decent plot and a might effort from Jessica to exonerate an innocent girl. Even though abrupt ending, I still think it’s a neat cozy mystery for those rainy days or for those snowy days where you can curl up by the fire and enjoy the read.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Plot Reveals:
   1. Cindy Blaskowitz’s family and friends: Janet, Mother; Emily, Liz & Mia, sisters; Jamal Washburn, Cindy’s attorney; Wally Brolin, a fellow musician and friend.
   2. Other characters: Elsie Fricket;  Roderick Marker, a music executive; Mrs. Lynee Granger, Cindy’s landlady; Bart Grossman, an entertainment attorney; Detective Biddle; Marilyn Marker, Roderick’s 3rd wife; Brandon, Mrs. Granger’s nephew; Alicia Piedmont, Heather Blackwood, Barrie& Sammy, neighbors of Cindy; Sally Prentice, another upcoming country singer; Mrs. Edwina “Eddy” Anderson, Rod’s secretary; Clevon Morgan, security at Rod’s building; Buddy, staff person of Rod’s office; Mr. Laidlow, prosecuting attorney;  Jeremy, Rod’s son from his first marriage; Mr. Lewis Whitson, Rod’s partner.
2. Sub Plots:
   1. Friends of Jessica Fletcher: Dr. Seth Hazlitt, long-time friend in Cabot Cove, Maine; George Sutherland, senior inspector with Scotland Yard; Morton “Mort” Metzger, Cabot Cove Sherriff and his wife Maureen; Eve Simpson, realtor friend working at Cabot Cove Realty; Sam Booth, mayor of Cabot Cove; Ethan Cragg, Cabot Cove’s chief town elder.
   2. Literary contacts and friends: her publisher Vaughan Buckley of Buckley House, his fashion model wife Olga Buckley and their dogs Sadie and Rose; Harry McGraw, her private eye friend; Matt Miller, her literary agent & his wife Susan; Paulette, Matt’s assistant.
   3. Other Characters appear frequently: Josh, the mailman; Jed Richardson, only bush pilot for Cabot Cove and owner of Jed’s Flying Service, and his wife Alicia / Barbara?; Mara, restaurant owner of Mara’s Luncheonette; Hank Weathers, a homeless war vet; Seamus McGilray, manager of Hill House Hotel; Richard “Dick” Mann, Fire Chief; Charlene Sassi, a baker; Susan Shevlin, travel agent and her husband Jim, Mayor of Cabot Cove; Professor Donskoy; Roberta Dougherty, bookstore owner; Richard Koser, photographer, and his wife MaryJane; Barbara DePaoli, Chamber of Commerce’s secretary; Anthon Colarusso, dentist; Beth and Peter Mullin, owners of flower shop Old Tyme Floral; Sam Davis, investment advisor; Jack Decker, publisher of Cabot Cove’s monthly magazine; Peter Eder, Cabot Cove’s symphony orchestra; Bob Daros, owns Heritage Fuel; Tim Purdy, treasurer of chamber of commerce and historian and president of  Cabot Cove’s historical society, also an investment advisor, and his wife Ellen; Pat Hitchcock, Cabot Cove’s popular nurse and teacher?; Gloria Watson, Wendell’s mother; Joseph “Joe” Turco, an attorney; Marcia Davis, costume designer; David and Jim Raneri, owners of Charles Department Store; Ralph Mackin, town attorney; Ed and Joan Lerner, retirees; Brenda Brody, copy editor of Cabot Cove Insider; Doug Treyz, dentist, and his wife Tina; Jack and Marilou Decker, publishers of Cabot Cove Insider; Peter and Roberta Walters, owners of the radio station; Horace Teller, publisher of Cabot Cove News; Doris Sitar, assistant manager at Cabot Cove Savings Bank; Dmitri, owner of local taxi company; Phil Wick, field manager of the phone company; John St. Clair, professor of business law at Cabot Cove Community College; Dr. Jennifer “Jenny” Countryman, Seth’s partner; Reginald “Reggie” Weems, insurance agent; Richard Jenkins & Sal Marterella, city council members; Jack Wilson, the Veterinarian, and his wife Tobe; Evelyn Phillips, editor of Cabot Cove Gazette.
   4. Sheriff Metzger’s office staff & other law enforcement: Deputy Andy Jenks; Deputy Jack; Rookie Wendell Watson; Deputy Harold; Deputy Jerry; Alfred Gillo, medical examiner; Judge Kaplan; Marie Poutre, dispatcher.
   5. Jessica Fletcher’s family: Grady Fletcher, nephew that she and her late-husband Frank raise, his wife Donna and child Frank.
   6. We continue to see Mort Metzger’s wife being called as Maureen. But she was named Adele in the TV show. Although we know the reason why Mort’s wife is different than the TV series, I distinctly remember her name being changed to Adele in the 50th book, A Time for Murder. Looks like the confusion is not completely alleviated.
   7. I remember reading one of the later books (and couldn’t figure out which one was that) where we see Sam Booth as the mayor of Cabot Cove. However, since I started reading the series from the beginning, looks like the mayor of Cabot Cove is Jim Shevlin. I wonder if Sam Booth surfaces as I remember from way back read.
   8. The prominent photographer of Cabot Cove’s last name is spelled differently in the 30th book A Slaying in Savannah. Up until the he was “Koser” and now he is “Kaser” in the 30th book, A Slaying in Savannah. Wonder if it will change back in future.
   9. In the 27th book Coffee, Tea or Murder? we see that Jed’s wife is named Barbara. But up until then she was named Alicia. Wonder if Bain will have a backup story for that in future books.
   10. From the 9th book, Murder on the QE2: Mary Ward has been a prominent character in this book. Will she resurface again?
   11. From the 10th book, Murder in Moscow:
       1. There is still no resolution as to who or how Ward Wenington was killed in D.C. and why Vladislav “Vlady” Staritova was killed in Russia. What was the connection?
       2. Alexandra Kozhina disappears at the end of the plot. And will she surface in another book?
   12. In the 50th book, A Time for Murder, Jessica is shown at Hill House, Cabot Cove’s very own Inn due to a fire at her Victorian home at 698 Candlewood Lame. I wonder if the 49th book, Murder in Red, has anything to do with her house getting caught fire which almost killed her.
   13. From the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve:
       1. Author Land gives considerable mystery to Seamus McGilray’s character. I wonder if he resurfaces in a future book.
       2. Towards the end of the book, Mort jokes that Jessica should run for mayor. Hmm…something to look forward to I suppose.