DEAD FOLKS BLUES by Steven Womack

Finished We 10/16/19

One of my ancient paperbacks and according to the flyleaf  I first finished the book on Fr 8/2/96, 'on weeks suspension'.....Ah, those were the days!

Introducing the character of Harry James Denton. He lives in Nashville, TN and is an ex-newspaperman. He was fired when he wrote a story about city corruption and it was published.

He's struggling for work and lives in a rented room in a house owned by an old nearly deaf woman on 'the wrong side of town'. He has to mow the lawn for part of his rent. He rents a very small room as his office space.

His first client, Rachel, is an old girlfriend. She knew him when they went to college and he knew her future husband, Conrad Fletcher. This man went on to become a very wealthy surgeon, but much despised in the medical community.

Lonnie is a friend of Harry's who repossesses vehicles and he also likes to blow things up. He knows a lot about computers and searching The Net.

Walter is also a friend of Harry's. They play intense games of racket ball. Harry sprains his ankle during one of their games.

Bubba is a 300 pound convenience store owner, ex-preacher and bookie. Conrad is a compulsive gambler and owes Bubba about a hundred grand.

Mr. Kennedy is a mountain of muscle, ex-athlete and Bubba's protection

SYNOPSIS:

Rachel and Walter are lovers. They kill Conrad for the insurance money.
Harry was at the hospital at the time of the murder. He went into a hospital room just after a nurse had left. This nurse was Rachel in disguise and she was too far away for Harry to really see her. As Harry leaned over the body of Conrad, he was hit on the head and knocked out by Walter. 

From the book's page at GoodReads:

 "EDGAR AWARD WINNER--Best Paperback Original Mystery 1993.
When Rachel Fletcher, an old college flame, enters Harry James Denton's office needing his private detecting services, he'd rather not. But he prefers money to poverty, and agrees to find out what kind of dangerous business her husband is mixed up in. Conrad Fletcher is a rich surgeon with a lot of enemies. He also owes big money to a very big, very bad bookie. But by the time Harry catches up with Fletcher, he's gone from being in debt to being dead. The list of suspects could fill the Grand Ole Opry, and Harry's search for the killer will lead him into the partsof Nashville that no one ever sings about--unless they're singing the DEAD FOLKS' BLUES.
"A deft, atmosphere-rich novel: smart, funny, and filled with a sense of wry heartbreak. Steven Womack's Nashville stands out--it is a beautifully drawn backdrop."
James Ellroy