Chronicles of Bernie Butz

Blues In The Night: The First Chronicles of Bernie Butz by Carol S. Fowler is a vibrant collection of short episodes set in the smoky, soulful jazz scene of 1950s New York City. Follow Bernie Butz, a passionate jazz journalist for Crazy Cats magazine, as he navigates the highs and lows of the Cool Era, chasing interviews with rising stars and uncovering the gritty underbelly of the music world. From the sultry notes of Jack Goldberg’s saxophone to the dangerous allure of femme fatales like Hedi Munroe, Bernie’s adventures blend the rhythm of jazz with the pulse of noir mystery.

Bernie Butz is at it again. This is a man who has a compulsion to help jazz musicians when they're in trouble. He is a jazz reviewer for the Chicago branch of Crazy Cats Magazine by night, as well as an amateur sleuth. In his first chronicles, there were five short mysteries ranging from personal tragedies to murder, but this is one long story involving the antics and problems involving several members of a big band that comes to town in the early '50s that wind up involving the Chicago mob. If you listened to the first chronicles, you know who he is.