When a literature student moves to New York to continue his studies he discovers a small jazz club where one of the greats of jazz, John Hawes, was playing. Going along to the show one night he is surprised when an elderly sax player walks in and joins the performance.

The student cannot believe his eyes. Is that Pork Pie Hat, the legendary musician? Surely he is dead?

His studies start to take a back seat as he spends most of his spare time at the club just listening to his idol playing.

One night the student plucks up the courage to ask if he might interview Pork Pie Hat. What he hears is a fantastic tale of murder and prejudice in Mississippi.

Is the story he is told the truth or is it just a figment of the imagination of an elderly man? When Pork Pie Hat dies the student is driven to search the archives and discover the truth.

Pork Pie Hat is a lovely little story. It starts as a simple tale of a student spending far too much time at a music club watching an old musician. However once the interview begins the story changes into a murder mystery with the student trying to find out the truth from contemporary news articles.

Peter Straub writes a story that is so very easy to read. Within a few pages he has painted a vivid picture of the New York nightlife. This rapidly progresses into riveting descriptions of a shanty town and a virtual sub-culture.

I long ago came to the conclusion that Peter Straub was a talented author. Pork Pie Hat just emphasises this fact. The whole book is only 73 pages long but he makes maximum use of every one of them.