I STILL MISS MY MAN BUT MY AIM IS GETTING BETTER

The author of the well-received series featuring ex-crime reporter Samantha Adams (He Was Her Man, 1993, etc.) hits a mother lode in this story's setting—Nashville—and in a new heroine: up- and-coming songwriter-singer Shelby Kay Tate. Shelby has left Star, Mississippi, and divorced feckless husband Leroy to try her luck at songwriting in Nashville. Now, waiting tables parttime at Sweet Willie's restaurant and working with respected old hand Chuck McGivern, Shelby has a date at songwriters' night at the Sutler- -joining pals Lynn and Althea to sing their own songs in the presence of big-time recording exec Chris Cassel. A string of bizarre events comes close to expunging that dream, though, as Chuck's jealous wife Joyce trashes Shelby's apartment and a lovesick Leroy turns up—an incident that lands him in jail. His cellmate is Mac McKenzie, a short, fat, fiftyish emissary from Hell who soon has Leroy in the palm of his hand—a willing partner to car theft, fraud, kidnapping, and a potential death threat to Shelby once they're released. Floating over all the mayhem is the protective ghost of Patsy Cline, in mortal combat with McKenzie's evil spirit Rahab—a flourish this rich, spirited funfest could have done without, but a minor flaw in a saga as earthy as the music it celebrates—packed with vividly alive characters, ribald dialogue, and suspenseful incident. A sizzling bull's-eye. (Author tour)