The Do-Re-Mi

By Ken Kuhlken

Evergreen, near the Oregon/California border, is a different town than the last time Clifford Hickey visited, only a year ago. Then it was an Eden, a garden of peace and delights, of music and lovely hippies sharing all they had. Now it’s the site of a range war. Bikers have descended upon the place to poach from the hippies’ marijuana plantations. And a home town boy gets murdered the very night Clifford arrives.

​Clifford, a recent college graduate, and his adopted brother Alvaro, a gifted musician who hasn't yet adjusted well following a tour in Vietnam, are scheduled to perform at the Evergreen folk festival. But when sheriffs crash the brothers’ reunion at Alvaro’s camp in a redwood forest, Alvaro runs.

​In the effort to clear his brother, who is charged with the murder of a sheriff’s nephew, Clifford makes deadly enemies of a gang of outlaw bikers led by a tiny sociopath. When Clifford seeks help from hippies living in Evergreen’s communes, they shun him. So do the locals. Which means he’s on his own, unless the girlfriend of the murdered boy chooses to trust him, or unless he decides to call for help from Pop, detective Tom Hickey.

But Tom’s busy trying to keep Clifford’s mama from returning to the sanitarium.

A Shamus Best P.I. novel finalist.

“... the endearing Hickey clan brings the social and cultural scene of the period vividly to life.” ~ Publisher’s Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publisher Hickey & McGee
• Release date: Jan 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005042233

Ken Kuhlken

Ken Kuhlken's stories have appeared in ESQUIRE and numerous other magazines, been honorably mentioned in BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, and earned a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.His novels include MIDHEAVEN, finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Award for best first fiction book, and the Hickey family mysteries: THE BIGGEST LIAR IN LOS ANGELES; THE GOOD KNOW NOTHING; THE VENUS DEAL; THE LOUD ADIOS, Private Eye Writers of America Press Best First PI Novel; THE ANGEL GANG; THE DO-RE-MI, finalist for the Shamus Best Novel Award; THE VAGABOND VIRGINS; THE VERY LEAST; and THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING.His five-book saga FOR AMERICA, is together a long, long novel and an incantation, a work of magic created to postpone the end of the world for at least a thousand years.His work in progress is a YA mystery.His WRITING AND THE SPIRIT advises artists seeking inspiration. He guides readers on a trip to the Kingdom of Heaven in READING BROTHER LAWRENCE.Also, he reads a lot, plays golf, watches and coaches baseball and softball, teaches at Perelandra College, and hangs out with his daughter when she comes home from her excellent college back east.

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