You’ve Lost That Livin’ Feelin’

George (A Lethal Walk in Lakeland) launches a promising new series with this witty whodunit featuring a retired rocker turned amateur detective. Cordoba, Calif., record store owner Adam Parrall was the drummer for Parallax, a 1980s band whose biggest hit was “Knife to the Heart.” The song’s title takes on a sinister resonance when, on the radio show he hosts, Adam promotes an upcoming performance by Righteous Brothers impersonator Barry Haddon. The announcement provokes a hostile response from a caller who deems Barry a “no-talent horror show” and suggests he might die during his performance. Adam shakes it off, but just before Barry takes the stage, Adam finds him dead in an alley behind the venue from a stab wound to the heart. Unimpressed with the police’s halfhearted efforts to find the killer, Adam interviews key suspects and stumbles his way to a satisfying solution. George leavens the murder plot with loopy asides about Adam receiving an award intended to honor dead musicians and his wife’s misadventures in the kitchen. The result is a goofily good-natured whodunit that will please fans of Andrew Martel’s Vinyl Detective series. Agent: Michelle Hauck, Storm Literary. (Jan.)