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MOON MUSIC opens with the gruesome discovery of a mutilated corpse in the desert
outside of Las Vegas. The victim, a young Vegas showgirl and prostitute, has
not only been viciously murdered, but her body appears to have been
half-eaten. Her left eye is completely missing. Enter Detective
Sergeant Romulus Poe of the Las Vegas Metro Police. Poe is particularly disturbed by the
similarities between this case and a long ago, unsolved murder committed by a killer
dubbed "The Bogeyman". But something in the present bothers Poe even
more. His colleague, Detective Stephen Jensen, was one of the prostitute's last customers.
Poe's investigative team includes novice homicide detective Patricia Deluca, forensic
pathologist Rukmani Kalil --- Poe's on-again, off-again girlfriend --- and the
questionable Jensen, whose obsessive-compulsive wife, Alison, was once Poe's lover.
Kellerman's characters are all wonderfully original and involving,
especially Indian medical examiner Kalil, with her flowing saris and knowledge
of things mystical --- who keeps Poe grounded throughout the harrowing investigation ---
and Poe's willful, ailing, alcoholic mother. Romulous Poe won me over early in the
book. Half-Paiute, half-Italian, he's a fifteen-year veteran of the force, who
knows a lot, but doesn't know it all, and who has some haunting Bogeymen of a different
kind in his troubled past.
But, Las Vegas is really the main character in MOON MUSIC. Kellerman does a
superb job of bringing the neon city to life. It's all here --- the strip,
casinos, beautiful showgirls, gamblers, pimps, natives, tourists --- the good,
the bad, the ugly, and the very ugly. She has a master's sense of place ---
she'll have you reaching for that set of dice you're sure you actually had in your hand
just a moment ago. And, she's equally good at putting you in the middle of the
desolate Nevada desert. Oh, yes…back to the desert…
Just as Poe and his colleagues start to make headway in the case, another mutilated body
of a young woman is found in the desert sand, and the team is now faced with the
possibility of a serial killer. For Poe, the case escalates
from bad dream to full-blown nightmare as his list of suspects
now includes not just the city's criminal element, which he loves to hate, but
someone he hates to admit he still loves.
What makes MOON MUSIC such a unique and intriguing read is the way Kellerman weaves Native
American mysticism, metaphysics, and some nasty twentieth century scientific experiments
into the plot. If she doesn't make a complete believer out of you, she will ---
at the very least --- have you thinking long and hard about the possibilities.
I had only one problem with MOON MUSIC. Towards the end, Patricia does something no good
police officer would ever do, and you find yourself saying "Oh, come on,
Faye". Patricia's actions move the story to its climax, but a little
tweaking could have made it more believable. However, none of this ruins the
breathtaking chase at the end of this riveting and engrossing novel.
With MOON MUSIC, I took a chance on Faye Kellerman. I had never read any of her other
novels. I had also just finished reading several crime fiction novels, and was growing
tired of what seemed to be the same old, same old. Could Kellerman do anything
really different to hook me and keep me reading? Also, I'd never been to Las
Vegas. Would the author convince me that her Las Vegas was the real thing?
Yes, indeed, Kellerman had a lot to prove to me. And, she
succeeded…brilliantly. I don't know what my Vegas odds were, but I feel like I came
out a winner, since I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
--- Reviewed by J.M. Higgins
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