The plot centers around an old friend/enemy, Dee Willis, now a blues/rock superstar. In Boston for a major gig, Dee looks up her old pal Carlotta, not for old times' sake, but to help find a missing mutual friend from long ago, a fine blues guitarist who fell into a life of drugs and booze. There's a serious reason why Dee wants Carlotta to find Davey--but doing so unlocks emotions for Carlotta that she'd rather keep buried. Emotions due to the fact that, way back when she and Dee were in the same band, Dee stole Carlotta's husband, bass guitarist Cal.

Carlotta agrees to find Davey, but in doing so, she has to slog through old business and old feelings--and confront Cal, something she has never been able to do since he left her. A good mystery, a good story, and a real key into Carlotta. I don't know why it's out of print!


Carlotta confronts her past   August 24, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Carlotta Carlyle gets a surprise customer in her taxi one night. It's Dee Willis, a famous singer, who used to be Carlotta's best friend until she stole Carlotta's husband from her. Dee now needs Carlotta's help in finding Davey, a mutual friend of theirs. Davey is accusing Dee of stealing songs which he wrote and passing them off as her own. Carlotta's investigation brings her in contact with several old friends, including her ex-husband. As usual, she is conflicted about her love life, which in this book includes three different men. As in her other books, Linda Barnes writes an interesting tale with a good plot and well-defined characters.


Not the best   February 16, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I'm not wild about Carlotta's blues hobby -- it seems too forced -- so an entire book centered around it wasn't exactly a page-turner. Karen Kijewski did the "old friend is a big-time musician with a problem" better in the Kat Colorado series.

I also found the mystery, and the culprit, to be vague. It's a good series, but this definitely wasn't one of the better installments.


Weak effort   March 25, 2005
Of the Carlotta mysteries I've read so far, this is easily the weakest effort. I've often read aloud from some of the other novels in this series to my partner. The language in this particular novel is somewhat awkward and doesn't roll of the tongue easily like some of the other novels. The plot plods along and the supporting characters are dull and uninteresting. I've never felt that the Carlotta's blues hobby was very realistic and it certainly can't hold a novel together. Even the appearance of Carlotta's ex-husband doesn't spice things up much. Perhaps I have a bias against musicians (the ones I've known have generally been narcissistic and boring). Syncronistically, just before this novel, I had just read the Sue Grafton novel in which Kinsey's musician ex-husband makes an appearance. However, Sue Grafton makes it work and really uses his appearance to reveal something about Kinsey's character. In Steel Guitar, the ex is just someone else for Carlotta to boink. I've only managed to plod through about three quarters of the novel. I just don't really care very much how it turns out.


Satisfying   February 22, 2006
Admittedly, I am a late comer to the Carlotta series, but this was one of my favorites. This particular plot forced Carlotta to face her past and exposed some uncomfortable feelings - jealousy of Dee. The interaction with her ex was necessary and helped her come to terms with her current feelings. I thought it was a very moving story with a very poignant ending.