The Dead Play on by Heather Graham

In The Dead Play On, a maniac is going around killing musicians in New Orleans in search of a magical saxophone. Whether the saxophone is actually magical or whether the killer is just a lunatic is up for debate. Danni Cafferty and Michael Quinn, who have a history of taking on paranormal cases and investigating paranormal objects, are on the case, as many of their friends are musicians.



This novel is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, I thought most of the characters were well crafted. The novel wasn’t too long and moved at a good pace. I didn’t find many plot holes or flaws in the logic. On the downside, despite the fact that the novel wasn’t very long, I found that it got repetitive at times. There was a lot of repeating of information or recapping a scene that just happened in dialogue between the characters. Much of that was unnecessary and could have been cut from the novel. The other negative for me is that as far as mysteries go, this novel left a bit to be desired. Until the end, there was very little focusing in on characters who could be the killers and creating a more dramatic narrative by emphasizing who might be doing the killing. As a novel, this was a solid read. As a mystery, it left a bit to be desired.