Turn on, tune in, drop dead...The Rock & Roll Murders.
Reporter Rennie Stride is the Angel of Death's groupie: wherever she goes, murder follows, in this loaded-with-atmosphere mystery series written by a notable Sixties rock insider. The Fillmores, Woodstock, NY and LA music clubs: all the hippest scenes of that legendary time...only with murder in the mix.
"Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore." It's March 1966: not quite the Summer of Love.
When Rennie's best friend, rock singer Prax McKenna, is busted for being at two savage crime scenes---one of them backstage at the newly opened Fillmore Auditorium---despite her own problems (her failed marriage and getting established in the rock biz),Rennie sets out to clear her friend's name.
But nobody expects what happens next. Especially not Rennie.
Patricia Kennealy Morrison is a retired rock critic and editor, a fantasy novelist (The Keltiad) and was married to rock star Jim Morrison. She lives in New York City.
This woman needs to stop living in the past. Why mention Jim Morrison? She was not legally married to him! Relying on Jim Morrison to sell her books is disgraceful and shows a lack of dignity on her part. Read by all means if you like reading about the era but don't buy because of her "association" with Morrison.
This is the first in Ms. Morrison's Rennie Stride series. It introduces us to Rennie herself and to the beginning of Stride World, a place where murders are discovered and solved by a kick ass woman reporter, who takes no prisoners when it comes to solving mysteries. The 60s ambience is perfect, as far as I am concerned; you get a real feel for the time and place and the people. The winds of change were blowing and stirring up both good and evil. Rennie stands firmly for good, and, with her friends, makes sure injustice is punished. Morrison is an excellent writer, and this series just gets better. Buy this one and all the others, including the fourth installment, hopefully coming in December. You won't regret it.
"Ungrateful Dead Murder At The Fillmore" Wow! Born in the mid-Fifties, I was just too young to fully understand or enjoy the new-found freedoms of the Hip generation. But I do remember the wonderful music and a longing to be part of it all. Well here's a chance to do just that. Ungrateful Dead delivers a blast of Sixties rock culture, from the emerging West Coast music scene to the drug-fuelled sexual revolution. And hey, its a damn fine murder mystery, too. Patricia Morrison is a class act . . . and so is her reluctant detective Rennie Stride. Murderers, mothers-in-law, randy musos, she deals with them all with a steady nerve and a killer wit. I was left wanting more, more, more, and there are hints aplenty of what may come. Rennie has bags of promise and I for one can't wait to see where she's heading.
"A new take on the murder mystery genre." I was so excited when I heard that Patricia Morrison was publishing a new book, and I must say, this one did not disappoint! What an original idea -- murder in the hippy-dippy, "all you need is love" era. This book combines a detailed look at the music scene in San Fran in the late 60s with a classic whodunit murder mystery. Just don't expect this murder mystery to be of the James Patterson/CSI type -- Mrs. Morrison relies more on finely woven narration than blood and guts. The insight, descriptions and humor she uses when dealing with her characters and the rock scene are refreshing and entertaining, and I love the mix of historical and fictional people. It kinda makes me feel like an insider.
"Rennie Stride is splendid!" Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore is a treat, a well-crafted mystery punctuated with music and life from the 1960's. Mrs. Morrison has created loveable, believable and memorable characters and put them in a story that is both fresh and very clever. I can't wait to read more of Rennie's adventures.
"Spend some time with Rennie and friends: you'll enjoy it" As a longtime fan, I was delighted to see a new book by Patricia Morrison. I have just one warning, though: don't start the book unless you have some uninterrupted reading time available. You're not going to want to put this one down quickly. The plotting, as usual for Morrison, is well done, with lots of twists you didn't see coming. The characters are people you care about, so you really want to know what happens to them. I enjoyed spending time with her heroine, Rennie Stride, and Rennie's friends, acquaintances and even enemies -- I look forward to the next chance. As a journalist, I appreciate Morrison's look at what life is like for a reporter. Her own background in journalism shows -- Rennie's experiences and her feeling about writing ring very true. Every young journalist should be gifted with an editor like Rennie's, who combines tough standards with support for a talented writer. And every reader should... More > be gifted with writers like Morrison to spend time with. Welcome back, Patricia.< Less
"Blow Me Away!" What a fantastic novel . . . this fascinating tale set in the age of sex, drugs and rock n' roll kept me turning the pages in anticipation of whatever wonderful and intriguing moment would undoubtedly next occur. Well-written characters, along with great description and a highly original storyline make it well worth reading. This one rates way up high on my "all-time favorites" list. Can't WAIT for the next installment. Rock on Patricia!
"Hoo-rah-ray & a Tiger...she's back!" Mrs. Morrison returns with a terrific read in the mystery genre...a bit of a departure from her usual realm of Science Fiction/Fantasy. As with her Keltiad series, she writes strong female & male characters which are so layered and muti-faceted the reader just can not wait for the next book in the series to see what happens next to her main protagonist. Mrs. Morrison uses her background as one of the first ladies of rock n' roll journalism to create Rennie Stride who is, one really cool chick...and smart...and funny...and has a killer wardrobe. The era of the 60's during the first part of the counter-culture revolution feels so realistic and well written that for a bit you forget that you're really sitting at home in Wisconsin in the year 2007. Her writing is so crisp and witty that it is easy to lose yourself in the novel. The main mystery is very well plotted out (Rex Stout couldn't have done better) and the twist at the end... More > was lovely. If you are fond of murder mysteries & historical fiction, I can not see why you wouldn't enjoy this book. Compared to the latest by Cornwell & Grafton, this mystery is like a breath of fresh air (please do forgive the overused phrase!) to this mystery-a-holic. Having Mrs. Morrison's literary voice back in print has been one of the best things to happen to fiction all year. I personally hope she keeps up the Lulu publishing with many more Rennie books and, one can only hope, maybe a few new Keltia novels as well....< Less
"Excellent debut for a promising new series" Ungrateful Dead: Murder at the Fillmore is the first of Patricia Kennealy Morrison's new Rock & Roll Murders series. In it we meet Rennie Stride, journalist by trade and detective by chance who finds herself looking to solve a murder and clear her friend's name -- all in the socio-artistic crucible of the Haight Ashbury music scene. In the fine tradition of amateur sleuths, Rennie's drawn into the murder mystery in part because she's smart and observant, and in part because she has a knack for eliciting confidences from people who would otherwise never be talking. Rennie is a welcome presence in the genre: she's tough and intelligent, as we would expect, but she shows refreshing vulnerability and depth of character as she grapples with the difficulties facing young women in the 1960s as they balanced personal ambitions with traditional expectations -- and sometimes had to make some very hard choices. Thankfully, this is... More > portrayed with honesty and heart, sans moralizing (in any direction). Throughout the story, the author doesn't shy away from the politics or the issues of the time -- marriage and career, drugs, sex, and oh, yes, rock and roll. The music so loved by Rennie (and by Kennealy Morrison) is a pulsing thread of cohesion, deftly woven throughout the story and bringing everything together. Patricia Kennealy Morrison has a gift for immersing readers in the universe of her books, whether it's the far-off interstellar kingdom in her rich Keltiad series, or the far-out world of 1960s rock-and-roll. All her trademarks are here: tight plotting, vivid characterization and whip-smart dialog blended brilliantly with rich, detailed descriptive passages that place us firmly in the story without hindering the plot. Ungrateful Dead is a great read; it's engaging, sharp, funny, and full of atmosphere. Satisfying in itself, it makes an intriguing beginning for what promises to be a highly entertaining series.< Less
"A very satisfying read" I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Patricia Morrison's earlier novels, and/or a good murder mystery. She writes her characters so well; you get a feel for them right from the start, and that draws you into the story itself. They're authentic people, not just flimsy stereotypes of hippies you might expect from a novel set in this era. This may sound strange, but I also appreciated the fact that the characters are up front and matter-of-fact about their drug use and romantic/sexual relationships; these things are treated as just another part of any normal life, which of course they were, but you don't always see that expressed as well as it is here. Everything about the book (characters, settings, etc.) just feels real (for lack of a more eloquent word); it's easy to really see the people and places in your mind's eye. On a final note, it's sometimes too easy to figure out "whodunit" before the last... More > chapter, but this time I was way off base, which made the mystery all the more satisfying.< Less
