A Good Mystery that Teaches the Secrets

of the Country Music Industry

Murder on Music Row by  Stuart Dell                                                                                   Winston-Salem, N.C., [2011]                                                                                                        978-0-89587-565-5; $24.95



Ripley Graham is Galaxy Record’s best-selling artist, counting now more than 25 million legally-purchased downloads, becoming the industry’s first digital superstar. His career took off almost immediately, with 2 albums. Now another album is due out, and Ripley is filming a video at the Grand Ole Opry House to showcase one of the songs, prior to kicking off his big “Rip It Up” tour.  Suddenly, two shots ring out, whizzing past Ripley’s ear, to hit his manager, Simon Stills, an intern, Judd Nix, and a cameraman.  All are whisked away to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where things are sorted out – putting Ripley in protective custody, treating and releasing Judd and the cameraman, and taking Stills, shot in the throat, into emergency surgery.

Ripley’s career has caused consternation at Galaxy Records.  The Nashville head of the company resigns, throwing some of the company’s plans awry and strengthening others as the company considers a secret international merger, making it the largest recording company in the world.

But the company still suffers from antiquated business models and the marketing of 12-song CD’s, outdated in this digital age. This upsets Ripley, and looks to cripple the company, even as it’s reaching new heights.  Rumor has it that Ripley and Stills are pushing for more money, and using the new CD as blackmail.

Simon Stills, still suffering from the shooting, has improved some, and looks to his right-hand, Megan Olsen, Ripley’s day-to-day manager, and her right-hand, Judd the intern, for help, collecting information from his computer, erasing data, and sending e-mails to unmask the murderer.  Then Stills falls into a coma, Judd is arrested for the shooting, and well-laid plans come a cropper.  A high-powered chase ensues, ultimately revealing the motives behind the shootings, with several of the major characters coming very close to losing their lives. 

Murder on Music Row leads readers through a maze of twists and turns that connect Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and London in a behind-the-scenes look at an industry where there are virtually no limits in the pursuit of money, power, and fame.  Stuart Dill gives us an insider’s look from the vantage point of being an artist manager for over 25 years, helping to guide the careers of such luminaries as Minnie Peral, Dwight Yoakam, Freddy Fender, Michael Martin Murphey, Jo Dee Messina, and Billy Ray Cyrus. Murder on Music Row is his first novel.  This reader hopes there will be more.  Recommended.  – lss-r

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Book provided by my Public Library.
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