The Duchin-Wilson Connection

Mystery
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HOW THE CO-AUTHORS OF BLUE MOON HOOKED UP

For years, Peter Duchin’s friend, Howard Kaminsky, encouraged Peter to write a mystery series inspired by Peter and his remarkable life as a legendary orchestra leader who has lived, laughed and loved among the most celebrated and influential people in the world. Peter, who’d been a big fan of mystery novels in his younger years – Nero Wolfe was one of his favorite characters – thought it was a terrific idea.

Howard, a former publishing executive and successful author himself, introduced Peter to his friend, agent Alice Martell, who suggested Peter meet her client, John Morgan Wilson, the Edgar Award-winning author of the Benjamin Justice mystery series.

Late in 2000, John drove from his home in West Hollywood, California to meet Peter in Palm Springs, where Peter was playing a fancy charity event at the elegant Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Over a Scotch or two on a hotel veranda, the two hit it off and immediately began brainstorming possible characters and a plot premise for their first whodunit. "There was instant creative chemistry," Wilson recalls.

That night, Wilson sneaked into the ballroom where Peter was playing to take in the scene. "I was fascinated by this world of high society, of wealth and power, which was largely foreign to me," Wilson says. "The ballroom was like a microcosm of that rarified world, with lots of flirting eyes, veiled glances, romance, business savvy and personal intrigue. Stylish couples were swinging to the music, the champagne was flowing and the jewelry was flashing. Up on the stage, with his band behind him, Peter was like a puppet master at the piano, orchestrating the mood and rhythm, having a grand time. At that moment, I decided this was an ideal backdrop for a mystery series, written from the orchestra leader’s POV. Afterward, I made just one request: that we open our first novel with a murder on the dance floor, when the lights go out, among hundreds of potential suspects. Peter liked that idea, and our partnership was sealed."

Peter returned home to New York City and the authors began working together by E-mail. They agreed on several key points: For creative flexibility, their main character, orchestra leader Philip Damon, would be "inspired" by but not "based" on Peter; they would start the series in 1963, on the brink of the social and pop culture revolution; the backdrop for the first mystery would be San Francisco and the luxurious Fairmont Hotel, where the Peter Duchin Orchestra performed many times in the hotel’s legendary supper club, the Venetian Room; and the book would take its title from a song that plays a role in the story. As they worked out their plot, Peter provided countless details and memories from his life and work. John wrote the first draft, Peter took over on the second draft, and John smoothed out the final draft for consistency of style and voice.

The result is Blue Moon, published by Berkley in October of 2002, followed by Good Morning Heartache.