Highway 61 Resurfaced by Bill Fitzhugh

Highway 61 Resurfaced Reviews

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  Reynolds Darke

  Another good comic mystery by Bill Fitzhugh. If you haven't read "Pest Control" I highly recommend it. This is the second in the Rockin' Vestigations series about a radio DJ moonlighting as a PI.
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  Marsha Valance

  One of the 12 best mysteries I read in 2005.
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  Carolyn Rose

  Amusing mix of humor, the blues, and crimes in the past and present.
• 
  Cheryl

  This is a quirky mystery featuring a Vicksburg DJ who's also a PI. Besides being into golden oldie music like the Allmans and ZZ Top, he's also into blues musicians and minstrel shows most of us have never heard of. Some readers will complain Fitzhugh gives too much information about these characters and slows the pace; I'm not one of them. For me, the anecdotes and historical vignettes makes this story come alive
  
  Our hero Rick ends up smelling like a pig sty after chasing down a cheating spouse. Then he runs across a famished kitten and, soft-hearted guy that he is, takes it to the animal shelter. And, soft-hearted guy that he is, ends up having the fast-talking technician talk him into keeping it. And paying vet bills and buying its medicine, litter box, crate and other toys that he can't afford. I can't help warming to him.
  
  Then a woman hires him to find her grandfather Woolfolk, a retired music producer. In fact, it turns out the old man's mixed up with some legendary lost tapes that some old musicians supposedly made fifty years before.
  
  And speaking of those lost tapes, Clarence happens to be one of the musicians supposedly in them. And he's just getting out of prison after serving a fifty year sentence. Could be he's holding a grudge against the other musicians for hanging him out to dry. Maybe Clarence holds a grudge against the producer, too. Because no sooner does Rick start looking for Woolfolk than the producer turns up dead.
  
  And then, another woman comes along, claiming to be Woolfolk's granddaughter and wanting Rick to find out who murdered the old man.
  
  After more murders, more shootings, and a crazy villain who gets crazier and crazier, I'm cheering like crazy at the ending.
  
  Not for everyone, but anyone interested in old musicians -- like Isham Bracey, Ma Rainey, Muddy Waters, Rufus Thomas and lots more -- will love this mystery.
• 
  Melissa

  I don't usually read "Mistery" books, but this one was recommended to be because I love Christopher Moore. This book was a good read, I went through it quickly and couldn't wait to see what happened next. On top of that, it is based in Mississippi and has several references to Arkansas, Louisianna and Memphis. It is mostly based on music and classic old Blues Singers, so if you like that kind of music you will like this book and learn a lot from it.
  I like to say that it read like a movie. As in, it was described just and well enough for my imagination to see it perfectly and it was like watching a movie in my head. I love books like that. I will be reading another one of Bill Fitzhughs books in the future and I recommend this book to music lovers, mystery lovers, cat lovers, and humor lovers.
• 
  C.J.

  What a marvelous book! From the title to the last page, Bill Fitzhugh manages to combine the Deep South of Flannery O'Connor, Carl Hiassen, and Muddy Waters, not to mention Bob Dylan's eponymous highway. It's a satisfyingly suspenseful mystery which is also very funny and full of great music. I'm hard to bowl over, but I really liked this one.
  
  FYI - Pandamonkey, who gave this book 1 star and blasted "a guy breaking the law of chastity with a dog," clearly didn't read it very carefully. Many laws are broken in this book, but not that one. Which isn't a law anyhow. Comments like this are Goodreads' Achilles Heel.
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  Cindy Grossi

  Oh my gosh-I loved this book. It was packed with so many of my favorite elements - witty, witty writing set in the Mississippi Delta with blues history and a mystery. Fitzhugh is Mississippi's Carl Hiaasen.
  I had read Fitzhugh's first book and and really liked it, but this far excelled that initial effort.
• 
  Ron

  Fitzhugh is usually a great deal of fun. He's funny and irreverent, and likes classic rock even more than I do. But this one is just not that great. The characters, which are never that strong, are even less interesting. By halfway through, I didn't care about the whodunit.
  
  It's better than some books, if only because it's so very light. It's not aiming for much or asking for much. But there are better.
• 
  Tom Buske

  This book is the second of a series involving Rick Stafford, rock and roll and blues DJ and part-time private investigator. Stylistically, a little like Hiassen but without his Florida settings, this book is a loving yet unflinching look at Mississippi in the 1950s. Add lots of cool blues history stuff, good dialogue and some amusing situations and this easy reading book is a fun time.
• 
  Kari

  I loved this book because I love music and mysteries. I learned about songs's origins and lots about Mississippi and the delta blues. Very fun, whodunit story. I will put his other books on my fun list to read.
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  Angie

  I am in love with his main character
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  Pandamonkey

  This book was horrible. It was vulgar and crude (including a guy breaking the law of chastity with a dog). It is books like this that make people ashamed to read.
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  Don

  Pretty good, but I don't know whether I will read any other books in the series. I may move on to some other interesting authors and series.
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  Trina

  I enjoyed this light mystery by a friend. Loved the setting and the blues topic.
• 
  Wanda

  Very entertaining and I learned a lot about the history of blues music.
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  Carol Jean

  Nice Delta atmosphere and great old bluesman characters. Fitzhugh does have a way with words. I particularly liked the quip, "He won't go bowlegged toting his brains around."
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  Planet J

  If you like the blues and mystery novels..this is the book for you.
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  Carole Burgess

  The Delta blues and then some!
  
  This book was a great read. Well written, interesting, and entertaining. What more could you want in a Summer read?