Rock & Roll Mystery Series

Just as the rock band, Doberman’s Stub, was about to reach stadium tour
status, its leader was brutally murdered when his headphones exploded
during a recording session. The widow, who inherits $5 million, is the
San Diego Police Department’s number one suspect. She hires Jason Duffy,
a 27-year-old PI in his first year of private practice, in spite of his
background as a former musician.

Jason learns that the victim
was also a very skilled contract negotiator, who was in the middle of an
acrimonious renegotiation with the record company at the time of his
death. He also finds that the record company has a very unhealthy tie to
the Russian Mafia.

As an inexperienced detective, Jason does not
yet have the contacts within the police department to gather vital
information. He is forced to mend fences with his estranged father, an
opinionated ex-SDPD detective.

While Jason investigates the
record company, he also takes a close look at the three surviving
members of the victim’s band. One is an alcoholic/drug addict drummer,
on the verge of being kicked out of the group. The second is a bass
player who camouflages his rock star status by living in an ordinary
house in a lower middle-class neighborhood. Third is a lead guitarist
and writer of half of the band’s songs, who lives well beyond his means.

Jason
has not yet become hardened to the very real dangers of his new
profession. We experience his inner conflict as his girlfriend, staff,
and family are drawn into the danger zone.

After Jason’s
part-time employee is severely beaten during a stakeout, he sells the
story of the Russian Mafia’s involvement in the record business to a
tabloid journalism TV show in a misguided effort to protect his employer
and coworker. This serves to drive the case to new heights of danger
and suspense.

Jason goes behind the industry veneer of sex &
drugs & hedonistic lifestyles. He shows us how the 21st Century
world of downloads, file sharing, and image demographics need to be
considered in a case of Rock & Roll Homicide.