Black's Beach Shuffle

Corey Lynn Fayman
iUniverse, Inc. (2006)
ISBN 0595402674
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (3/07)

I have little knowledge of the dot com world or music but that wasn’t necessary to enjoy this book.

Eyebitz.com is a new company promoting their product.  The company had “created a way to track how people respond to the content we send them.”  CVO, Ricky Rogers, explained the company to Rolly, “information can flow both ways.”  “We can store the information in our database, analyze patterns and predict user behavior, allowing us to target advertising for our sponsors in ever more accurate ways.”  The missing key is a “removable data disk.”  The mystery gets deeper; the creator of the missing key is also missing.  “Curtis is not your usual employee, Mr. Waters.  Eyebitz.com is not your usual company.”

Sounds like scary stuff to me!

Rolly Waters and other members of his band are asked to play for the Eyebitz.com company party.  Unfortunately he left Moogus to pack up the instruments after the gig and in his rush he left behind a guitar.  Rolly is attached to his 1965 Gibson Es-335 Thinline electric guitar; he says it’s worth double his Volvo.  Rolly could just picture it lying on the dew-wet grass soaking up moisture.

Determined to retrieve the Gibson, Rolly returned to the mansion and rang the intercom.  When no one answered he assumed everyone was asleep whence he decided to scale the wall.  As he frantically searched for the guitar he noticed a dark shape in the swimming pool.  He panicked when realized it was the body of a young man.  Rolly grabbed the case and quickly left the scene.

Rolly Waters, musician, alcoholic and Private Investigator, had stumbled upon a body floating in a swimming pool.  From that moment on he’s thrust into an investigation he doesn’t want any part of.  When he arrived home, he couldn’t sleep.  He kept picturing the young man in the pool.  He didn’t want to become involved but was drawn in despite his wishes.  Companies didn’t offer business to Rolly but suddenly Eyebitz.com offered him a retainer to investigate a missing key.

“Black’s Beach Shuffle” by Corey L. Fayman is a fast-paced mystery.  I enthusiastically turned page after page to see what would happen next.  This book reminded me of an old-fashioned gumshoe novel but with a modern high tech twist.  Rolly Waters is an interesting and complex character.  He’s not an ambitious sort, his music is important to him, so are his parents, little else matters.    I highly recommend “Black’s Beach Shuffle” to all mystery fans; they’ll love this one.

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