Marian Babson
Fiction, Mystery
This is one of Babson's first novels, and the one in which we are introduced to Perkins & Tate, the publicity firm of Murder At the Cat Show. Their job this time is to handle publicity for a hillbilly country group, a job that seems easy until we actually meet the group. The head of the group is Black Bart - a nickname that is all too apt. He's tyrannical, cruel, narcissistic, and oh, did we mention the paedophilia? As if that wasn't bad enough, he treats his sister and his wife like dirt, there's a stage mom involved, and the illiterate backup band members have a nasty sense of humor.
It's bad enough keeping the bad news - the statutory news - out of the papers while trying to up the positive profile, but then the stage mom is hit by a car and claims she was pushed before she dies. Now Doug Perkins has to figure out who might be a murderer... though he's got a pretty good idea... and stop the killing before somebody else dies.
Like many of Babson's novels, you know that the crooks will get their comeuppance in the end. As an earlier novel, however, this lacks the polish that makes her later efforts truly shine.
***/*****
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