The King of Ragtime

Ragtime Trilogy #2

by Larry Karp

It's 1916, and time's running out for Scott Joplin. Before he dies, he wants to provide for his wife and to secure his place in musical history. He's written a musical drama. His young piano student, Martin Niederhoffer, who works as a bookkeeper at Waterson, Berlin, and Snyder Music Publishers, convinces him to try to get Irving Berlin to publish and produce the work.

The next day, Niederhoffer walks into his office and finds Joplin crouched over the blood-soaked body of a young man. He hustles his teacher away; unfortunately, the two are seen leaving the building. Nell Stark, daughter of Joplin's first publisher, John Stark, hides Joplin and Niederhoffer from the police and summons her father from St. Louis to help sort out the mess.

After Berlin flatly denies ever having received Joplin's play, young Niederhoffer breaks cover and engages the services of hit man Footsie Vinny, who gives Berlin a five-day deadline to come up with the manuscript. And just when things couldn't get worse, Niederhoffer's girlfriend, Birdie, is kidnapped....

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Larry Karp practiced perinatal medicine and wrote general nonfiction before turning his back on medical work to write mystery novels full-time. The backgrounds and settings of Larry's mysteries reflect many of his interests, including musical antiques, medical-ethical issues, and ragtime music. His current book, The King of Ragtime, the second work in a ragtime mystery trilogy, centers on a real-life dispute between Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin over the alleged theft of a piece of music."

Reviews

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the summer of 1916 Martin Niederhoffer worked for Waterson, Berlin, and Snyder, Music Publishers as a bookkeeper with an eye to his future. He also took piano lessons from Scott Joplin. Martin loved Scott's music and convinced Mr. Joplin to take his musical drama "If" to Irving Berlin to be produced. With bad blood over an earlier piece of music between Joplin and Berlin, and Scott already a very sick man, this was a situation ripe for confrontation.

Martin has discovered discrepancies in the company books pointing to someone skimming money from the company. After spending all day working on the missing money, Martin is told to stay late to finish up his regular work. Birdie, his girlfriend and assistant, has already gone home when his friend Sid Altman arrives to wait for Martin to finish so that they can go to the fights. Martin goes to the men's room and when he returns to his office he finds a dead body and Scott Joplin standing over it with the weapon in his hand.

From here on it is a race to keep the police from finding Scott Joplin and to find "If." The problem of Scott's missing music is taken up by his former publisher, John Stark, at the request of Stark's daughter Nell. still a close friend of Joplin.

This is a tightly written story with ample twists and turns. The characters spring to life with an flourish that is delightful. Mr. Karp caught New York in the summer, and especially the summer of 1916, in a truly admirable manner. I could almost smell, hear, and taste the city of the story. Each character is almost a story on its own. The blending of the different personalities was a delight and I found myself humming ragtime in my head.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in music, history, or just a desire for a finely tuned mystery.

[Urs · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Scott Joplin tries to get some later music published by Irving Berlin, but things fall apart when he is found a day later by his piano student Martin over a dead body with the murder weapon in hand.

I did not know what I was getting into reading this book. I had no idea that it was a part of a series, but it stood alone fine for me. I mostly read this because I have an interest in music and always liked Scott Joplin. It also sounded like an interesting mystery.

This book was so good! It was difficult to read of Scott Joplin portrayed in the later years of his life…when he was suffering from his illness and the related dementia. That portrayal of Joplin also made him really more of a side character instead of a main character. That did not take away from the story, though. The characters were all interesting and the mystery kept me wondering.

I sometimes avoid historical fiction because it can often be bogged down with so much detail to try to recreate the era that it distracts too much from the story. This book however, did not seem to have any of that setting bog down at all. Definitely worth the read for lovers of music of the time. Craftily done.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery story involving Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin. Lots of history...shocked at the presentation of Irving Berlin. Must read more, perhaps the book by Edward Berlin.

[Ken Kuhlken]

Especially recommend for folks interested in ragtime music, early 20th century New York City, or the music publishing business. Well researched and a good read.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in the trilogy on par with the first. I like the well-researched history of these books, but the fabricated mysteries can be a bit of a stretch.