The Last Encore

In the little town of Melody Grove, the biggest event of the year ends with a body. Celebrated bandleader Lazlo Quintaine drops dead at his own gala, poisoned mid-encore, in a packed room, under six rolling cameras. And somehow, not one person saw it happen. Not one person, that is, except Lottie Reamer. Singing sleuth, open-mic menace, and writer of the worst-timed comic songs in three counties, Lottie heard something buried in the dead man's final solo. A message. A confession, even, if a person knew how to listen. With her deadpan librarian best friend Jillian decoding clues between withering looks, Lottie works a suspect list that won't sit still: a furious drummer drowning in debt, an oily manager with cooked books, a bassist who bolted into the night, and a handsome stranger with every reason to want Lazlo gone. Every road points one easy direction. Which is exactly why Lottie stops walking it. Because the real killer hid the truth in plain sight. And the only way to catch them is to make them listen to their own song.