Ever the supporter of dreams and creativity, Jessica Fletcher - along with other members of the Cabot Cove Cares Foundation - put their faith and their funding into the musical career of young Cyndi Gabriel. With their help, Cyndi heads to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue country music stardom.

Despite its reputation for hospitality, Nashville has a dark side where con men, jealousy, and downright backstabbing reign. It doesn’t take long for Cyndi to get tangled up with a shifty music producer, and the next thing you know – bang! He’s dead. That would probably be a good thing for Cyndi, if only she hadn’t been seen running away from the crime scene. Maybe her flight could be explained by youth and the shock of finding a dead body, but Cyndi was also squabbling with the murder victim over rights to a song that she wrote and he stole.

It looks like an open-and-shut case, but Jessica Fletcher knows that crimes are never so easily solved. Determined to get to the bottom of it all, Jess rushes to Nashville to investigate for herself. Suspicious characters run the gamut from a fading country-star wannabe to up-and-coming singers, and Jessica charms them all – until the killer figures out that the nice mystery writer from Maine is sharp as a tack and determined to expose the real killer.

Nashville Noir is true to the standard Murder, She Wrote structure, with Jessica taking on bullies, culprits, and veteran law enforcement offices with grace and confidence. Yes, it’s a formula novel, but fans of Jessica Fletcher and the television series find comfort in knowing exactly how the story is going to turn out. The writing here is strong and the mystery is solid, with just enough country music background to set a rhinestone-studded stage. All in all, Nashville Noir is an entertaining entry into the Murder, She Wrote series of novels.