Swing: A Mystery

“Swing just might be the best historical thriller of the year. Certainly it is the most creative.”
–Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the swinging big band era, jazz saxophonist and arranger Ray Sherwood is haunted by personal tragedy. But when Gail Prentice, a beautiful and talented Berkeley student, seeks his help in orchestrating an original composition slated to debut at the newly created Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, Ray is diverted from his worries and drawn to the beguiling coed. Within moments of their first meeting, however, Ray witnesses a horrifying sight: a woman plunging to her death from the island’s emblematic Tower of the Sun.
Ray soon finds himself trapped in a coil of spiraling secrets in which nothing is certain, including Gail’s intentions toward him and her connection to the dead woman. And as events speed toward the shocking climax, Ray must unlock an ominous puzzle with sinister implications that stretch far beyond anything he could imagine.

Twice a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s coveted Edgar Award, Rupert Holmes is no stranger to the worlds of mystery or music. His first novel, Where The Truth Lies, has been made into a major motion picture by director Atom Egoyan starring Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman. For his Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Holmes became the first person in theatrical history to solely win Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Music and Lyrics, while Drood itself won the Tony Award for Best Musical. His comedy-thrillers for the stage include Broadway’s Accomplice and Solitary Confinement. His most recent work for Broadway, Say Goodnight, Gracie, earned Holmes the 2004 National Broadway Theatre Award and a Tony nomination for Best Play. He also created and wrote all four seasons of the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning television series Remember WENN, set in 1940. Swing's musical milieu is a reflection of another part of Holmes's career: He received a Drama Desk Award for Best Orchestration and arranged and conducted Barbra Streisand’s classic album Lazy Afternoon. The Los Angeles Times has called Rupert Holmes “an American treasure.”


From the Hardcover edition.