Murder Me Dead

author: David Lapham

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.72

book published: 2000

rating: 4

read at: 2014/08/23

date added: 2014/08/23

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

I read a graphic novel not too long ago purporting to be in the style of noir. I was disappointed. I was certainly not disappointed by David Lapham's 'Murder Me Dead.' It has the kind of dark story that the genre is known for.



Jazz pianist Steven Russell comes home late one night to find his wife dead and hanging from the ceiling fan. She is wealthy and her family is convinced that Steven is guilty. They hire a seedy private detective to dig up dirt on him. He runs into an old friend from high school who reintroduces him to an old high school flame named Tara. She's fallen on hard times, but before long Stephen is in love with her. When it turns out Tara is married and her estranged husband shows up one night, things take a dark turn as things. There are schemers and femme fatales and Stephen finds himself fighting to stay alive.



I enjoyed the story. It's full of noir tropes but it's nice to see this kind of story in a modern setting. There are other recent noir type stories I've enjoyed a bit more, but this one fills the bill nicely. Art and story by David Lapham are good. There is a nice introduction talking about influences for this story. I enjoyed it.



I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.





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