The Last Songbird

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE LAST SONGBIRD“The Last Songbird is rock noir at its best. It sneaks up on you like a hook line, and when it’s over, you can’t get it out of your head. Hapless hero/songwriter Addy Zantz is witty, gritty, and determined to solve the murder of his idol and muse, the legendary rock star Annie Linden. Daniel Weizmann’s LA is half Warren Zevon and half Raymond Chandler. Bravo.”—T. JEFFERSON PARKER, Edgar Award-winning author of CALIFORNIA GIRL“Weizmann’s fiction is informed by his past as a highly influential and precocious young veteran of the punk scene, as well as by his lifelong passion for music, his career in journalism, and his love of noir and Los Angeles. This book is funny, poetic, gripping, and beautifully tackles themes of creativity, fame, and family.”—FRANCESCA LIA BLOCK, author of DANGEROUS ANGELS: THE WEETZIE BAT BOOKS“Daniel Weizmann’s The Last Songbird is a gripping, fast-paced, neo-noir mystery whose intriguing characters populate the streets of Los Angeles. When a seventies music icon suddenly disappears, her driver and friend begins a frantic search that leads him in pursuit of the truth. In turn, he will discover just as much about himself. Weizmann has written a smart, unforgettable page-turner of the best kind.”—GAIL TSUKIYAMA, author of THE SAMURAI’S GARDEN“Propulsive and pitch perfect, The Last Songbird is a smart, fast-paced read about the costs of fame to both the spectacularly gifted and those left dazzled and dazed in their wake. In crackling prose, Daniel Weizmann masterfully takes the reader through the midnight precincts of LA to tell a gripping story of human fallibility—of triumph and failure, generosity and greed, love and disappointment—and the drive, against all odds, to set things right. A stunning debut.”—JOAN LEEGANT, author of AN HOUR IN PARADISE“A terrific ride through the troubled, tangled lives surrounding a murdered LA music legend, told with the energy of the Germs and the urgency of X, with a captivating narrator who drives headlong in crime-fueled pursuit.”—GREGORY GALLOWAY, author of JUST THIEVES“Weizmann skillfully crafts a gritty, unstoppable detective thriller rife with sleaze, sea foam, and broken dreams set against a crumbling LA backdrop. It’s Sunset Boulevard meets Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.“—KATIE TALLO, author of DARK AUGUST“The Last Songbird is my favorite kind of neo-noir—blending the bright lights of celebrity and fame with the primal urges and darkness that come with any good noir novel. Weizmann is a confident, polished storyteller who honors his influences while weaving his amateur detective through a complex mystery that will keep you turning the pages until you’ve reached the haunting finale. A sharp, memorable debut.”—ALEX SEGURA, author of SECRET IDENTITY The Last SongbirdFirst published in 2023 by Melville HouseCopyright © Daniel Weizmann, 2022All rights reservedmhpbooks.com@melvillehouseISBN 9781685890308Ebook ISBN 9781685890315Library of Congress Control Number 2022949590Book design by Patrice Sheridan, adapted for ebookA catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congressa_prh_6.0_143550384_c0_r0 ContentsCoverTitle PageCopyright1: Here It Comes Here Comes the Night2: I’d Gladly Lose Me to Find You3: To Drink Rotting Wine from Your Hands4: I Cover the Waterfront I’m Watching the Sea5: You Know That I Tried to Be with You6: The Wind the Sun or the Rain We Can Be Like They Are7: Keep Me Sane in this Burning Oven8: No One Elevates You Elevates You Now9: With the Scent of Death We Find That We Are Not So Very Awed10: Take Me Down to the Sandy Shore11: East River Truckers Are Churning with Trash12: Time is an Ocean But It Ends at the Shore13: Spill the Wine Take That Pearl14: The Winds of March that Make My Heart 1HERE IT COMES HERE COMES THE NIGHTThe night Annie Linden disappeared, my world spun out with double-time speed.I was thirty-seven, she was seventy-three. I was a Lyft driver and she was a pop icon—once. She was my pickup and I was running late.I had already failed as a songwriter.As a song plugger, a pop critic, a recording engineer.No way could I afford to flop out as a Lyft driver.Pacific Coast Highway opened up and I shot through the gap, gunned it for the last stretch of Zuma trying to make up for lost minutes. One lone cop car idled about a hundred yards from Annie’s estate—I thought nothing of it. Then I pulled the silver ‘16 Jetta with the