Gideon (a.k.a. Bud) Lowry is a life-long resident of Key West, Florida. He is an aging sleuth by day and a piano player of melancholy bar tunes by night. The story opens with his concern over an impending real estate development. As a proposed shopping mall attempts to displace Bud from his in-home office, sparks fly – literally.

Bud's reluctance to sell is either irrational stubbornness or a fanatic adherence to the "old" Key West. The reader has no trouble understanding that inviting bike gangs and dopers into the neighborhood is problematic in most communities. However, the inherent evil of a strip mall is less salient. The author is a Key West insider, but he doesn't give the reader a real enough understanding of the locale to generate empathy.

Bud is also caught in a highly predictable conflict of interest when an old flame seeks his professional help in gathering information about her intended. She seeks some simple information regarding his medical background, but Bud finds much more than she requested. There are unexplained deaths in her fiancé's history. The evidence is circumstantial and far too meager to convince a woman in love. Bud fears for her life, but is stymied in his efforts to protect her.

The overall story is adequate, but the book suffers in several major aspects. John Leslie's agrammatical style is an annoyance. We expect characters to talk like real people, but there is an overuse of staccato, sentence fragments, and personal punctuation.

The pacing is slow and in keeping with a mature, melancholy private eye, but there is a minimal sense of suspense. The author telegraphs his plot. Many stories identify the perpetrator at the onset, but this book leaves little to the imagination.

With the sole exception of a Halloween parade, there is an absence of local color. If the locale is interesting, it's O.K. to let the reader sit and watch the people pass by. If Key West is an interesting place, Blue Moon does a poor job of representing the Chamber of Commerce.

This Gideon Lowry mystery is an easy read with minimal violent content despite several deaths. If you are looking for a simple story with unsurprising relationships and a leisurely pace, this book will be enjoyable.

--Steve Nemmers