Murder in the Jazz Band (The Catherine Tregowyn Mysteries #2)

When Catherine’s brother’s girlfriend, Emily, is arrested for the murder of an Oxford jazz saxophonist, he pleads with her to help find the real culprit. Though she is a newly hired tutor at Somerville College, Catherine has some past success at unmasking criminals and allows herself to be persuaded. She starts by going “undercover” as a weekend jazz singer with the murdered man’s band. Assisted by her beau, Dr. Harry Bascombe, she soon finds herself swimming in motives for the saxophonist’s death. Could the murderer be the Communist band leader? The black American trombone sensation? The drummer with a secret lover? Or maybe the severely introverted math whiz? What if it’s not a member of the band at all? While she tussles with her first year of teaching and worries over a troubled student, Catherine is also juggling her complex relationship with Dr. Harry and the fallout from an earlier relationship. When Emily is released and the police arrest her brother, Catherine is forced to dig deeper into her investigation uncovering new facts and unsuspected motives. What other secrets can she find in the rarefied atmosphere of 1930s Oxford? And will Catherine survive the peril she encounters from an unexpected quarter?