Aaron Paul Lazar [Lazar - Lady Blues

Pastand present collide when an Alzheimers patients fragile memory holds the keyto solving mysteries dating back to World War IIincluding a long lost secretlove affair.

Music professor Gus LeGarde is just doing a favorfor a friend when he agrees to play piano for church services at a localnursing home. He doesnt expect to be drawn into a new friendship with anelderly Alzheimers patient dubbed the music man or to stumble across a decades-oldmystery locked inside the mans mind.

Octogenarian Kip Sterling doesnt know his ownnamebut he speaks Guss language, spouting jazz terms like cadence andinterlude and riff. Hes also obsessed with his Bella, but nobody knowswho she is.

When Kip is given a new drug called Memorphyl, hestarts to remember bits and pieces of his life. Gus learns Bella was Kipsfirst and only love, but their relationship was shrouded in scandal. Intrigued,Gus agrees to help search for her. Could she still be alive?

Horrified when the miracle drug suddenly stopsworking and patients begin to backslide, Gus panics. Can he help Kip find hisbeloved Bella before his newfound memories disappear?

Lady Blues: forget-me-not

A Gus LeGarde Mystery

Aaron Paul Lazar

This is a work of fiction. All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are used fictitiously and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Copyright 2014 by Aaron Paul Lazar.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without the permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

First Edition, March, 2014

Cover art by Kellie Dennis

Published in the United States of America.

Dedication

To my dear Grandma Lena, who died from Alzheimers disease.

&

Ella Fitzgerald, whose sultry voice soothes my woes and raises my spirits to a level of unparalleled joy.

Acknowledgments

Huge thanks to Sonya Bateman, my long time critique partner, for her constant and unwavering support. Ive learned more about writing from Sonya than from anyone else over the past decade. Generous and always open to frank discussion, shes been a port in the storm for me on many occasions. Please check out my favorite book of hers, Broken Angel , as well as her urban thrillers at: http://housephoenix.wordpress.com/.

To Robin P. Waldrop, who inspired me (okay, she nudged really hard) to try my hand at a new venture and who encouraged me along the way by offering insightful critiques and catching my dumb errors. See her very popular YA paranormal romance books at:

http://robinpwaldrop.com/

Heartfelt appreciation to Sonia R. Martinez for her good-natured assistance and judicious edits. Sonia is my favorite food writer, who hails from Hawaii, who never fails to bring a smile to my face. See her articles and photos at: http://www.soniatasteshawaii.com/

Joan Miller, I truly appreciate all the hard work you put into finding my errors and inconsistencies. I wouldnt feel right unless you read through my manuscript before publishing, and I will always picture you and Gretchens cat Jessie reading at night outside by the chiminea.

Cindy Taylorone of my all time favorite book reviewershas written stunning reviews for my books for years now, and I was thrilled when she offered to beta read this book as well. You made the return of Mrs. Pierce to Guss kitchen a much more believable scene. And thank you, Cindy, for all the years of support.

Sheila Deeth is the author of a wonderful book entitled Divide by Zero . Like a human patchwork quilt, this dramatic family novel provides intimate glimpses into the minds of dozens of characters who will fascinate you. Sheila has always had a knack for picking up on the tiniest inconsistencies. Thank you for volunteering to help me again, and for reading and reviewing my books over the years. Once again, you saved me from quite a few embarrassing plot contradictions.

Thank you, Kellie Dennis, of Book Cover by Design , for your help with our cover art. I love the cover you designed and stand in awe of your expertise. Way to go!

Janie Adams recently discovered LeGarde Mysteries and offered to join the inner circle of the Beta Readers Team. Thanks so much for your support, Janie, and for finding those pesky errors.

Ardy Scott has long been involved in my books as a treasured cover artist for Twilight Times Books. But more than just creating beautiful covers, she has absorbed and understood my characters and created the most moving and meaningful artwork to represent my books. Now shes joined the ranks of our inner circle, and Im grateful for the astute edits she has suggested.

Thank you, Ardy, for making Lady Blues a better book than it would have been without your ideas.

Maria Benzoni Lombardo lives on the same gorgeous ridge over the Genesee Valley that we do, and we have been friends for years. She is reading and reviewing my audio books, and recently offered to try her hand at Beta reading. Im very glad she did! Maria, thanks for finding the errors I made. I so appreciate your catches and valued your input.

Jenny Woodall writes under the pen name of Victoria Howard, and has become a wonderful author friend from across the pond, in the UK. After we got past our UK/USA variances in writing styles, we have helped each other with stories, genre classification, and more. Thank you for taking the time and for making the effort. Jennys best-selling romantic suspense books can be found here: http://www.victoriahoward.co.uk/

Joan H Young, we have just discovered each others mysteries this year, and I must say I love your work. Thank you for taking a critical look at my manuscript even though you are as always swamped with multiple projects and much snow blowing in your driveway up north! You really have an amazing knack for finding typos and mistakes, thank you for spending so much time on this. Joans cozy mysteries can be discovered here: http://www.booksleavingfootprints.com.

Steven Moynier: Steve, we just met on Facebook through our amazing Aileen Aroma (publicist) and its been so much fun getting to know you. Thanks for taking a look at Lady Blues and for your ideas and catches, and best of luck on your upcoming book!

Gabriela Scholter, you read Lady Blues in less than one day and came back with a dozen excellent catches. I so appreciate your support and feedback, and thank you for your amazing speed and quality in your beta reading. Hope life is treating you good in Stuttgart!

Thanks to Maria Caperna, who suggested the name Bello Mondo Manor for the Alzheimers nursing home in this story. Who would have imagined long ago in Kodak that wed be here, now? Pretty cool. ;o)

Cover Art by artist extraordinaire, Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design http://www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk.

Chapter One

I strolled along Main Street with Siegfried, my best friend and brother-in-law, unable to shake the song repeating in my head. Id played it for my Opera 101 class yesterday at school, and since then, kept hearing Marcelo Alvarez singing Che gelida manina, from La Boheme . Because Camille and I had seen him perform in this role last fall in New York City, it made me long for Lincoln Center, or at least a really good hot pastrami sandwich from a decent deli.

Why I thought of food at that particular moment was a mystery, because wed just finished a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, home fries, and bacon at Claras Diner. I shrugged and let the warm spring air caress my face and bare arms. The sun felt good after the lingering cold of March. I reveled in the feeling of freedom, happy to have no appointments or chores looming in the near future, and looking forward to a leisurely stop in the village bookstore.