Murder at the Crossroads
by Doug MacLeod & Debra Schiff

 

A NEW MYSTERY FOR MUSIC FANS

“Murder at the Crossroads” transports the traditional mystery into the world of blues music. It was cowritten by Doug MacLeod, a world-touring, award-winning blues musician, and Debra Schiff, author of “Murder to Scale.” This suspenseful story will resonate with music fans of all persuasions as well as diehard blues aficionados.

How does anyone make peace with the paths they choose at crucial “crossroads” in their lives? For Eddie Baker, a middle-aged Black man, those decisions are literally life-or-death matters.

As a teenager, he secretly witnesses the lynching of a civil rights worker in Mississippi in the early 1960s. He flees the dangers of the South to Chicago and is able to forge a career as a blues guitarist. But more than 30 years later, in 1992 Los Angeles, he is still haunted by the horrific act he was powerless to stop.

When a former Klansman is at long last prosecuted for the crime, Eddie reluctantly travels back to his Mississippi hometown for the trial. After the murder of the DA’s star witness, Eddie is pursued by someone who knows what he witnessed and wants him silenced forever.

“Murder at the Crossroads” provides an insider’s guide to the ups and downs of a struggling blues musician. Eddie is helped by real-life blues greats and characters, a sidekick who has the body of a skinhead but the soul of a Black bluesman and loyal friends. Standing in his way are vengeful white supremacists, the animosity of a wronged woman, and his own fears and weaknesses.

Eddie has a final shot at redemption. He must somehow find the path that leads to justice for a victim of past crimes while preventing another murder from happenin –  his own.

Bob (Steady Rollin’) Margolin had to say this in his review:

“Doug MacLeod and Debra Schiff have co-written a mystery novel that moves me like … a Doug MacLeod musical performance. His 50-plus years as a Blues musician, his knowledge of the scene and the people and The Road from then to now, and his storytelling in words and his music are magnetic and soulful. He brings that to this book. It starts strong and grows in power, reflecting the life, light, darkness, tragedy, triumph, history and love in the Blues World. I’m taken and shaken.”

You can order ”Murder at the Crossroads” from your favorite bookseller or download a Kindle version from Amazon. A  portion of profits will be donated to The Blues Foundation’s HART Fund.