Joan Merrill — Writer and Producer

The following excerpts are from the book Jazz Fiction, Take Two by David Rife with James Langdon, in which the authors analyzed hundreds of books purporting to be in some way related to the music form known as jazz.

Among them is the Casey Mckie mystery series – five novels in which San Francisco private investigator Casey McKie is called upon to solve a crime, usually murder. Each book is set in the world of jazz music, a world that Joan Merrill knows very well and brings alive to the reader.

And All That Murder

“This is a jazz mystery from cover to cover. Musicians real and musicians imagined are frequently mentioned and successfully seen in action. Emphasis is on the business end of the music in which profit is more important than the art, The author knows whereof she speaks, having worked as a talent agent and a manager.”

And All That Sea

“Casey and a jazz magazine editor discuss the effects of journalism on the consumer with her critical of the magazine’s influence. A subplot involves the copyright of a song based on the Countess.”

And All That Stalking

“Jazz is everywhere in this book from the club settings to discussions of the difference between the classic jazz artist and the new breed.”

And All That Madness

“As in the other novels, jazz is ubiquitous, although often in the background. PI Casey McKie goes to New York jazz clubs from Greenwich Village to Harlem. She interacts with editors and writers and combs the archives with the help of a true jazz geek.

Many readers will be interested but not surprised at the attention given to the plight of the black musicians in the decades following World War II.”

And All That Motive

“The jazz content is found in the jazz fest and jazz night club and when the knowledgeable jazz fan Casey helps her singer friend Dee assemble a playlist for her forthcoming duet CD.”