Tishomingo Blues

Starred review from December 10, 2001
A tinted review in adult Forecasts indicates a book that's of exceptional importance to our readers, but that hasn't received a starred or boxed review. TISHOMINGO BLUES Elmore Leonard. Morrow, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 0-06-000872-5 On the advance reading copy of this novel sent to PW, the title appears in blue letters half an inch high. Leonard's name floats above the title in red letters a full inch high. A Leonard novel is an event, and for good reason. Over the past 40 years, this writer has evolved into the undisputed champ of the American crime novel, and he hasn't lost a step. His new (and 37th) novel is one of his smoothest, a return to the South of Out of Sight
(1996) and numerous earlier Leonards—though this is the author's first foray into deep country Mississippi, birthplace of the blues. Men and women who scrape at the margins of the American dream are Leonard's forte, and here he presents several such folk, all memorable, beginning with his hero, Dennis Lenahan, a high diver who contracts for a gig to perform at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino. While setting up his rig, Dennis witnesses a murder by local members of the Dixie Mafia. So, perhaps, does a mysterious, very slick black guy, Robert Johnson, down from the North in his Jag to run a con on a local powerbroker—or so it seems. But Robert, who befriends Dennis, and the Detroit mobster and moll who join him at the Lodge & Casino, have other, more complicated, more ambitious plans, for Tishomingo, for the Dixie Mafia and for Dennis, plans that come to a head during the Civil War battle re-enactment that provides the unusual and fascinating backdrop for the book's second half. As usual, Leonard's characters walk onto the page as real as sunlight and shadow; the dialogue is dead-on, the loopy story line strewn with the unexpected, including sudden flourishes of romance and death. Prime Leonard, prime reading. (Feb. 1)Forecast:Backed by a $250,000 marketing campaign and Leonard's ever-soaring rep, this title, his first with Morrow, could be his biggest seller yet, buoyed by a seven-city author tour and simultaneous HarperAudio (abridged and unabridged cassette) and HarperLarge Print editions.

February 3, 2003
The high quality of this polished, entertaining production comes as no surprise, as Leonard (Out of Sight; Get Shorty; etc.) is one of the most highly esteemed crime writers working today and Muller one of the most seasoned audiobook performers. The story centers on Dennis Lenahan, a high diver who lands a job performing at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Miss., but finds himself in hot water in the midst of an organized crime power struggle. As befits a Leonard novel, the proceedings are peppered by an interesting cast of characters making do on the fringes of conventional society. Muller ably portrays their many eccentricities and has the rare knack for performing the parts of the opposite sex in a way that sounds completely natural. He also captures the discerning, jazzman cool of Detroit gangster Robert Taylor; the thick, adenoidal twang of various members of the Dixie Mafia; and the comically ostentatious boastings of the hotel's resident celebrity, a former pitcher named Charlie who claims to have played in the 1984 World Series. The tension between them all builds toward a climactic Civil War reenactment, and listeners will find themselves alternately amused and intrigued by the many turns Leonard is able to muster. Based on the Morrow hardcover.

Starred review from January 1, 2002
Exhibition high diver Dennis Lenahan arrives in Tunica, MS, the "Casino Capital of the South," hoping to work a few weeks away from the noise and crowds of the amusement-park circuit. While he is checking his rigging the first night, he witnesses a murder and he believes that the killers have seen him. The same night, Dennis meets Robert Taylor, and enigmatic, streetwise African American from Detroit who talks of mysterious "business opportunities" in Tunica. Dennis is attracted by Robert's easy charm and lets Robert convince him to participate in a Civil War battle reenactment. The Rebels include the murderers and their drug-dealing cronies, the Yanks include some business associates of Robert who intend to muscle in on the local drug trade, and both sides may be carrying real ammunition. In Leonard's 37th novel, the characters pop off the page, the dialog sizzles, and the plot keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/01.] Karen Anderson, Quarles & Brady/Streich Lang, Phoenix, AZ

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2001
No blues here: fans will be delighted to learn that Leonard is back with another raucous tale. Here, when a daredevil diver performing way down South happens to witness a murder by the local Dixie Mafia, he must team with a black gangsta from Detroit to save his skin.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2001
Leonard remains the only A-list crime fiction writer who doesn't rely on a series hero. Not that his people don't have plenty in common: expert at thinking on their feet, not above bending the law, hard-boiled with a touch of romance, and always possessing a quirky interest in the minutiae of daily life. Where they differ is in what they do: bail bondsmen, bookies, fallen priests, and now, a high diver surrounded by a gaggle of Civil War reenactors. Dennis Lenahan, the high diver, travels from gig to gig with an 80-foot ladder and a 22-foot-wide tank, which, he tells female fans, looks like a 50-cent piece from the top of the ladder. His latest gig is at the Tishomingo Lodge and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Everything is going swimmingly until Dennis witnesses a murder 80 feet underneath him. Silence seems the best policy, but it turns out quite a few people saw Dennis up on his ladder, including a smooth-talking black man from Detroit called Robert, who finagles Dennis into participating in an upcoming reenactment of the Battle of Brice's Cross Roads. That's only the tip of the iceberg, of course, but the elaborate action is really only an excuse to let another group of wonderfully eccentric people bang into each other. What's most impressive this time--along with the fast-talking characters--is Leonard's ability to get inside a world, respecting the details yet always sensitive to the comic possibilities. There are other crime novels involving Civil War reenactors (Peter Abrahams' " Last of the Dixie Heroes" [BKL My 15 01], for example), but no one but Leonard would think of throwing a casino and a high diver into the mix. Pure entertainment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)