London Calling (JP Kinkaid)
The title of Grabien’s third entry in her rock ’n’ roll mystery series, The JP Kincaid Chronicles, is a tip of the hat to the politically charged music of the English punk-rock band The Clash. A hate crime now decades old is at the center of the events that have drawn JP’s enormously successful band, Blacklight, to the Cannes Film Festival. Eccentric film producer Sir Cedric Parmeley has entered his music documentary into the competition and asked Blacklight to perform a free concert. In Cannes, however, the band realizes the film Parmeley intends to show is not the version they approved. In addition, scenes depicting a vicious attack on a Pakistani youth by the roadies of another band have stirred the anger of an old hate group. Also front and center in the novel is JP and his wife Bree’s relationship, one of the most appealing aspects of the previous two entries in the series. Unfortunately, their perfect love is not as interesting this time around. Still, fans of the series will want to tune in for the band’s latest doings. --Joanne Wilkinson