∎ PDF Gratis Rhapsody in Blood A Benjamin Justice Novel Benjamin Justice Mysteries John Morgan Wilson 9780312341473 Books

Rhapsody in Blood A Benjamin Justice Novel Benjamin Justice Mysteries John Morgan Wilson 9780312341473 Books

Download As PDF : Rhapsody in Blood A Benjamin Justice Novel Benjamin Justice Mysteries John Morgan Wilson 9780312341473 Books

Rhapsody in Blood A Benjamin Justice Novel Benjamin Justice Mysteries John Morgan Wilson 9780312341473 Books

The Benjamin Justice mystery series has long been one of my favorites. Author John Morgan Wilson has focused his novels on hard-luck and battered ex-journalist, Benjamin Justice, and his difficult crawl toward some kind of personal and professional redemption. It has been a tough gauntlet to run, but Justice's trials and tribulations have been highly original and mostly engaging.

"Rhapsody in Blood" is an entirely different kind of book. Much less about protagonist Justice and more of a "manor house" mystery, albeit one set in a remote corner of Southern California with a tinsel town flavor. Benjamin Justice is along for the ride (literally), and functions as kind of a bystander and guest sleuth. Somehow, the story just doesn't meet the standard set by previous (and subsequent Justice books). Maybe it because it has a kind of a formula plot with predictable outcome. Or maybe it's because author Wilson has populated the tale with a large cast that requires an unusual amount of dialogue. Creation and management of dialogue is often the toughest part of writing, and in "Rhapsody...", there is too much cliche and posing to my taste.

Ultimately, the biggest problem is probably that there's just not enough about Justice himself in this one. The protagonist is used a whole lot more here as a mouthpiece to explain or complain about racial intolerance, suicide hotlines, outing of gay celebrities, rap music and other issues that the author is preoccupied with. In the context of this book, it all sounds a bit contrived, musty and unconvincing.

For fans of the Justice series, the book is probably worth a read. The good news is that at least one subsequent title returns to great form.


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Rhapsody in Blood A Benjamin Justice Novel Benjamin Justice Mysteries John Morgan Wilson 9780312341473 Books Reviews

Benjamin Justice returns after having just finished his memoirs. He is fast approaching fifty, has a paunch but still has his elderly landlords Maurice and Fred, although they have very little to do with the plot of Wilson's latest. Justice and his good friend Alexander Templeton go to a resort hotel in a place called Haunted Springs; she to work on a story, he just along for the ride. Of course he takes with him Walter Mosley's CINNAMON KISS for reading. (Mr. Wilson always plays tribute to this other fine mystery writer by referring to him in each of his own mysteries.) What evolves of course is a tale that spans 50 years involving murder, suicide and lynching. There is a motley group of characters a vicious reporter intent on "outing" someone in order to revive her sagging career; a gorgeous Adonis whom Justice develops an immediate crush on; a lippy midget stuntman; an out-of-control child actress who has made her fortune making "slasher" movies, a rapper who travels with a bodyguard; a hotel owner who insists on playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" over and over, a piece that is much overplayed in these United States-- you actually can hear the piece and wish desperately half way through the novel that he would play something else-- a Latino detective on crutches, and several characters long since dead but who come to life as Justice gets involved in all that has happened at this strange hotel, plus a half dozen or so others.

Mr. Wilson works out the plot with intricate details and rather slowly, almost too slowly at times. There is not a murder until 100 pages into the story. We are pretty sure who is going to get taken out; and from the evidence that Justice sees, as he is the first person to view the crime scene, the list of suspects is narrowed down to two. At times the novel takes on the feel of DON'T LOOK NOW except Justice keeps seeing someone in a yellow dress rather than a child in red.

As always, Mr. Wilson is interested in serious subjects; this time they are racism, the injustice of the criminal justice system, the touchy subjects of outing and men who have sex with other men but see themselves as straight. At times his prose becomes almost poetic when he writes on the things he cares about outing, lynching in America, rap music, facing the truth about our history. "Do we truly heal-- as individuals, families, communities, nations-- if we choose to remember selectively, to recall only that which is acceptable and comforting, to recreate lives in place of the truth?"

RHAPSODY IN BLOOD may not be Mr. Wilson's best book but is certainly well worth reading.
As a fan of Morgan's "Benjamin Justice" series since the very start, I have had some silent misgivings about the direction in which he has taken the character in the past two novels, from a sexually-active, hard-drinking gay man to a more reclusive, one-eyed HIV+ man on the wagon who seems to dwell more on his past than live for the day. After some thought, I think my reaction is more a byproduct of the fact that I am aging as well, and somehow resented being reminded of it in seeing Benjamin slow down as well.

However, in his newest "Rhapsody in Blood," Morgan takes the character out of his cozy nest in West Hollywood, teaming him with longtime friend, LA Times reported Alexandra Templeton, covering the shooting of a movie at a historic hotel in the remote town of Eternal Springs, now known as Haunted Springs due to two murders that took place there, and which is the focus of the film. They meet the cast, including the 30ish male lead - a frequent subject of tabloid rumors about his sexuality - whose seeming interest in Benjamin has him simultaneously flattered and flustered. When another reporter, known for her merciless "expose'" stories about celebrities, is found murdered with her throat cut (the same as the two victims that are the subject of the film), Benjamin finds himself in the middle of the mystery, with no shortage of colorful suspects around to choose from. Was the murderer the actor, who feared the reporter would try to "out" him, or perhaps it was the rapper with the "gangsta" image who seemed to alienate everyone, or the troublemaker midget stuntman, the hotel owner living with a troubling secret from his past, or perhaps it was the ghostlike female figure Benjamin saw on the rocks outside the hotel window, right before the murder took place?

"Rhapsody in Blood" is a complex, captivating mystery that also teaches lessons about the danger of bigotry and the shallowness of some people in show business. I rate it five stars out of five for lovers of this great series.
The Benjamin Justice mystery series has long been one of my favorites. Author John Morgan Wilson has focused his novels on hard-luck and battered ex-journalist, Benjamin Justice, and his difficult crawl toward some kind of personal and professional redemption. It has been a tough gauntlet to run, but Justice's trials and tribulations have been highly original and mostly engaging.

"Rhapsody in Blood" is an entirely different kind of book. Much less about protagonist Justice and more of a "manor house" mystery, albeit one set in a remote corner of Southern California with a tinsel town flavor. Benjamin Justice is along for the ride (literally), and functions as kind of a bystander and guest sleuth. Somehow, the story just doesn't meet the standard set by previous (and subsequent Justice books). Maybe it because it has a kind of a formula plot with predictable outcome. Or maybe it's because author Wilson has populated the tale with a large cast that requires an unusual amount of dialogue. Creation and management of dialogue is often the toughest part of writing, and in "Rhapsody...", there is too much cliche and posing to my taste.

Ultimately, the biggest problem is probably that there's just not enough about Justice himself in this one. The protagonist is used a whole lot more here as a mouthpiece to explain or complain about racial intolerance, suicide hotlines, outing of gay celebrities, rap music and other issues that the author is preoccupied with. In the context of this book, it all sounds a bit contrived, musty and unconvincing.

For fans of the Justice series, the book is probably worth a read. The good news is that at least one subsequent title returns to great form.