A Merry Band of Murderers: An Original Mystery Anthology of Songs and Stories

This anthology of 13 stories includes a few hits, but on the whole, the volume strikes many a false note. Each mini-mystery somehow involves music; Val McDermid's story, for example, riffs on "The Long Black Veil," the song made famous by Johnny Cash. Rupert Holmes's clever tale "Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil" features a man who believes his iPod talks to him, and Claudia Bishop's droll "The Melancholy Danish" turns on a production of Hamlet . But lackluster stories like Bill Moody's "File Under Jazz," about a jazz artist's murder, and John Lescroart's "Something out There," about a young woman who finds love with a cop, dominate the book. The interviews with each author and introductory essays by Bishop (A Dinner to Die For ), Bruns (Barbados Heat ) and the publisher pad this anthology based on a gimmick cleverer in conception than execution. A companion CD of original songs provides the soundtrack. (Sept.)