Beatniks, Eisenhower, Fillmore District jazz and Major League baseball. As Mayor George Christopher fights an influx of organized crime and redevelopment begins to transform the city, racial and political tensions rise when a Black real estate magnate is murdered. Kay Schiffner is a practicing lawyer by day, during a time when women were rarely hired as lawyers, and at night, secretly follows her passion for playing jazz at the Blue Moon in San Francisco’s Fillmore District, a neighborhood where good white women weren’t supposed to go.

Dru’s Short Musing:
Crime, gentrification, and murder take center stage in this gripping drama set during the Jazz era.

Kay and Leitisha are two strong women who fight adversity in the job they have chosen and when crime and murder comes into play, they are thrust in the middle of all this mayhem and it’s this conundrum that keeps me reading until the end. The author’s writing style made it easy to follow along and the details of the subject matter was evident by the research that was done as I felt myself walking the paths of the two women in their pursuits. When Leitisha is accused of murder, Kay searches for clues and uncovers the underbelly of organized crime and politics. Her dogged determination as well as working alongside the detective lead to the revelation and identity of the killer. Overall, a good read.

Series Name: Kay Schiffner Mystery Book #1
Genre: Historical Mystery (1950s)
Release: September 17, 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.