The Ragtime Fool
by Larry Karp
A Scott Joplin Mystery
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-699-9 (1590586999)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-699-0 (9781590586990)
Publication Date: April 2010
List Price: $24.95
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Review: Larry Karp concludes his ragtime trilogy with The Ragtime Fool, setting the story some 45 years after the events in the previous book in the series (The King of Ragtime) and long after Scott Joplin's death in 1917.
Ragtime seems to be making a comeback. At least it seems so in 1951 Sedalia, Missouri. Plans are underway to place a plaque in the local Negro High School to honor Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime", who once lived in the town around the turn of the century. Brun Campbell was Joplin's only white student back in his Harlem days and he is helping to establish the musician's legacy. But tensions run high in this small town. Restaurants and theaters are segregated and the Klan meets regularly. In fact, they are planning to bomb the high school during the ceremony. It isn't clear if they intend to follow through on their threat, but just announcing it may be enough to keep people away and prevent it from occurring.
Separately, 17-year-old Alan Chandler plays ragtime on the piano in his New Jersey home as often as possible, much to the dismay of his parents, who don't find the music appropriate for a white suburban boy. He knows of Brun Campbell from news reports on the radio, and is aware of the upcoming festivities to honor Joplin in Sedalia. He writes Brun, who tells him that Joplin kept a diary that is currently with his aging widow in New York. With the enthusiasm -- and just a bit of rebelliousness -- of a teenager, Alan and his girlfriend travel to New York to pick up the diary and then on to Sedalia to deliver it to Brun. But someone else wants the diary: jazz critic and historian Rudi Blesh, who would do just about anything to get his hands on it.
The Ragtime Fool is a poignant story, a tale of two generations that share a common love of music, the common thread between them the ragtime composer Scott Joplin. It isn't a mystery by any standard definition, but the characters (many of whom are real, historical figures), settings, and pacing of the at times suspenseful plot will not disappoint fans of the genre.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Ragtime Fool and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
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Synopsis (from the publisher): It's 1951, and ragtime is making a comeback. In Sedalia, Missouri, plans are well along for a ceremony to honor Scott Joplin. Brun Campbell, the old Ragtime Kid, is working to establish Joplin's legacy. Brun learns of a journal Joplin kept and wants to show it to Sedalia's movers and shakers, hoping to persuade them to set up a ragtime museum. Unfortunately for Brun, author/historian Rudi Blesh is determined to publish the journal. Also, Joplin's old friend wants to suppress the material. Even worse, two Sedalia Klansmen are hot after the journal, and don't care if they have to kill someone to get it. What's one murder, compared to the Klansmen's grand plan to blow up the high school auditorium with its integrated audience during the ceremony? In the middle of this imbroglio is Alan Chandler, a 17-year-old pianist in love with ragtime. If Alan can stay alive, he may be able to prevent catastrophe and learn what it really means to be black in mid-twentieth century America.
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