It's 1969 and 16 year old Kennedy has run away from home to seek out blues musician Willie Johnson, the man with the two dick name. Kennedy plans to fulfil his dream of becoming a music industry manager and producer. He arrives to find that his imagined world of blues music isn't quite what he hoped for - for either himself or Willie. This is a wonderful tale of friendship, coming of age and coming to terms with the realities of life. It is a joy to read, both being well written and well researched. The characters are flawed, believable and eminently likeable (even the hopeless ones). It will appeal to all musicians, fans of the blues, and lovers of a good story. It's rare that I give a five star review, but this book is worth the rating.

I received a copy of this book from Black Rose Writing in exchange for an honest and fair review - and have since bought a paperback copy to give to a dear friend. ( )

This review is an unbiased review of a book I received free of charge from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Sins in Blue is an unassuming little novel that could be called a coming-of-age story, an exiting-life story, a music story or just a plain good novel. The author obviously has a love of music. His descriptions of the music scenes carry us off into blues bars of yore. His different timeline settings feel authentic, as does the conversation and action. Not action in the high-octane sense of the word; this book is a beautiful character study. Some might call it slow-moving but I call it over too quickly. ( )

I normally don't award five stars to books in the early reviewing program.
Let's make an exception for this one. It earned it.

It's a story about an old - white! - blues man, searched out by a college kid in 1969 who dreams about making a fortune as a music manager discovering the real inventor of rock'n'roll.

In a nutshell, it's a piece about the blues like the blues itself.
Soul-touching. ( )