Blue Lightning

Author of numerous novels and short stories featuring detective Charlie Resnick, Harvey has gathered in this quirky anthology tales by 18 other writers mostly known for their crime fiction. Thematically joined by their characters' musical passions, the stories range from a fictional meeting in Memphis between Johnny Cash and John Lennon, written by Cash's daughter Roseanne, to Walter Mosley's title story starring Socrates Fortlow, the philosophical ex-convict introduced in Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Harvey himself contributes ""Cool Blues,"" in which Resnick is on the trail of a jazz-obsessed thief. The range of musical genres covered is as diverse as the authors: Japanese avant-garde (Stella Duffy's ""No""), pop/rock (Kirsty Gunn's ""Aja""; Ian Rankin's ""Glimmer""), country (Julie Smith's ""Too Mean to Die"") and blues and jazz (many stories). While there are elements of mystery and suspense in many of the pieces, literate-minded music lovers are the book's intended readers, and they will likely devour the collection whole and identify with Tony Vincenzo, the patrol officer protagonist in Jeffery Deaver's ""Nocturne,"" whose music library includes Tony Bennett, Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller, Diana Ross and Squirrel Nut Zippers. Closing with brief biographies of the contributors, including comments on their listening habits, this anthology speaks strongly for the power of songs and styles to evoke events and feelings of the past and to transport listeners to important moments of their lives. (Apr.)