THE KING OF RAGTIME
Scott Joplin
leaves a major musical composition with Irving Berlin, but Berlin
claims he never received it. Then, Joplin is found in Berlin's
company offices, crouched over a blood-soaked body. Music publisher
John Stark and his strong-minded daughter, Nell, need to get around
their edgy relationship to find the manuscript and exonerate Joplin.
This historical mystery from Larry Karp is the second novel in the Ragtime Historical Mystery Trilogy and
was released by Poisoned
Pen Press on October 1, 2008.
Read Chapter One of "The
King of Ragtime" by Larry Karp.
What Others Are Saying...
Set in
Manhattan in 1916, Karp's well-crafted second homage to ragtime
(after 2006's The Ragtime Kid) charts Scott Joplin's race against
time and the effects of a ravaging illness to secure his musical
legacy...Karp's meticulous research helps create a vivid picture of
the time and locale. Memorable, authentic characters are another
plus. (Oct.)
Publishers Weekly, June 30, 2008
Impressively
researched, with a substantial bibliography, Karp's second Joplin
mystery (The Ragtime Kid, 2006) paints a full-bodied portrait of
Harlem back in the day...it takes you places you'll be glad you
visited.
Kirkus,
August 1, 2008
The second
Joplin historical mystery (see THE RAGTIME KID) is a fascinating
look at the Manhattan music world during WWI. ... Readers will
enjoy the wild ride...as real figures like [Scott] Joplin and
[Irving] Berlin come to life beyond the legend. The amateur
sleuthing is fun to follow but it is the obsessed with insuring for
Lottie’s future and how history recalls him Joplin who turns this
whodunit into a concerto performance.
Harriet
Klausner, The Mystery Gazette, August 26, 2008
The second
book in Karp’s ragtime mystery trilogy is based on the real-life
controversy of whether the smash hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime
Band” was actually written by Irving Berlin, who published it, or
Scott Joplin, who claimed Berlin stole it from him. Once again the
author has taken actual musical history and deftly superimposed a
fictional murder plot onto it. With a well-tuned ear for dialect and
colloquialisms of the time and place, he’ll convince you that it’s
New York City in 1916, and you are there. Edward R. Murrow couldn’t
have done it better...In the 19-teens racism, sexism, and
anti-Semitism were painfully blatant, but city life had cadences and
syncopation, much like ragtime music. This book captures that
rhythm.
Bill
Farley, Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Read the
full reviews of "The Ragtime Kid" by Larry Karp.
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