The Day the Music Died

An Emlyn Goode Mystery

Fiction - Mystery - Murder
117 Pages
Reviewed on 08/09/2017
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Author Biography

Amanda Stone, a rock and roll icon, vanished at the peak of her career in 1986. She surfaces in her hometown of Niagara Falls soon after the death of Emlyn Goode’s mother. Stone asks to see Emlyn, she says, to share memories of her high school friend, Anne Goode. What Stone actually tells her bounces Emlyn’s life on its head. When later that day Stone is murdered, a shaken Emlyn must use her ancient relative’s craft to solve the crime by disinterring the secret of what drove Stone from the spotlight thirty years before. If Emlyn fails, she’ll never know if what Stone told her is true.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Day the Music Died: An Emlyn Goode Mystery is a paranormal murder mystery novella written by Susan Solomon. Amanda Stone’s meteoric rise to fame had made her legendary in her small hometown of Niagara Falls, New York, where she and Emlyn had both grown up. Amanda had early on shown a gift for music and musical instruments, and soon after she had left home for college, the young musician had ended up making a name and attracting a following for herself in Greenwich Village. When she met fellow musician, Bobby Davis, after one of her performances, something clicked, and the two created Stonemaiden, a paranormal-themed musical group. As with any success story, there were the incessant rumors about wild parties, drugs and other gossipy speculations, so no one was all that surprised when Amanda abruptly left the stage in the middle of a performance, never to be seen again.

Emlyn was surprised, to say the least, when she received, years after Amanda’s disappearance, a letter of condolence from the former musical legend. Anne Goode, Emlyn’s mother, had died recently, and Amanda wrote in her letter that the two had been friends. Amanda then expressed her interest in meeting Emlyn and left a phone number. Emlyn and her friend, Rebecca, were both intrigued and excited at the prospect. Rebecca, especially, as she had been a die-hard fan of Stonemaiden. The meeting was delightful at first, but then Amanda had some stunning news to share with Emlyn that would change her world forever. Emlyn rushed out of Amanda’s house, unable to digest the older woman’s message, and heedless of Amanda’s request for help.

Susan Solomon’s cozy paranormal murder mystery novella, The Day the Music Died: An Emlyn Goode Mystery, is breezy, fast-paced and highly entertaining. I’ve read other books in Solomon’s Emlyn Goode Mystery Series, and find following these two amateur sleuths as they solve the mysteries that seem to fall in their laps a lot of fun. Solomon’s cast of characters, which includes both women’s love interests and Emlyn’s sleuthing albino cat, Elvira, become more well developed with each book, and they’ve come to seem like old friends. I’m looking forward to the next book in Solomon’s mystery series. The Day the Music Died: An Emlyn Goode Mystery is most highly recommended.

Deborah Lloyd

When Emlyn Goode received a sympathy card after her mother’s death, her world turned upside down. The card was from Amanda Stone, a rock star in the Stonemaiden band several decades earlier. Amanda walked off the stage during a concert and “disappeared.” However, recently rumor had it that Amanda had returned to her hometown of Niagara Falls, New York. On the card, Amanda wrote that she knew Emlyn’s mother during her youth and asked to meet Emlyn. And, the adventure begins in the entertaining murder mystery The Day the Music Died: An Emlyn Goode Mystery, written by Susan Lynn Solomon. Emlyn is dating Roger Frey, the Deputy Detective Chief of the Niagara Falls Police Department, while her best friend Rebecca Nurse is dating Detective Chief Harry Woodward from the same department. Although the women are instructed to stay home and take care of their injuries (and that’s another story), the enterprising twosome conduct their own investigation.

This is a quick-read, fun novelette; the reader will probably laugh out loud! Emlyn is smart, sassy and determined. Even her cat Elvira has caught onto her tricks. It seems Emlyn often makes decisions that invite dangerous people into her life, cultivating perilous situations. Author Susan Lynn Solomon has written an exciting and enjoyable mystery in The Day the Music Died: An Emlyn Goode Mystery. Ms. Solomon’s writing style is clear and concise. The characters are intriguing and realistic, while the dialogue is believable and adds to the reader’s understanding of each character in the story. This book would be perfect for a day at the beach.

Melinda Hills

A rising rock star suddenly disappears from the music scene in 1986, but surfaces again quietly many years later in her home town, Niagara Falls, in The Day the Music Died by Susan Solomon. Amanda Stone sends a condolence card to Emlyn Goode for the loss of her mother and asks to see Emlyn. Just recovering from a beating due to another mystery case, Emlyn and her friend, Rebecca, visit Amanda, only to find out mere hours later that she has been murdered. The past seems to have caught up with both Amanda and Emlyn as the former band members and their manager are in town for what was hoped to be a reunion concert. With the reading of the will, it is obvious that there is something out there that someone is willing to kill for and hopefully Emlyn and Rebecca won’t just become a few more casualties. With local law enforcement as boyfriends, the two should be safe, shouldn’t they?

Susan Solomon writes with a deft touch as her characters, including an albino cat, express unique natures, engage in realistic and humorous dialogue and just the right dose of witchcraft to make things interesting. Flowing smoothly from beginning to end, you can’t help but become caught up in Emlyn’s enthusiasm for getting to the bottom of the crime, in spite of being injured. The Day the Music Died is a quick read at only 69 pages, but there is plenty of action and adventure to fill out the tale and make you want to read more. The Day the Music Died is certainly well worth the effort! Great story - perfectly enjoyable.