The Ragtime Kid

Brun Campbell, a 15-year-old piano-playing fool, hears Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" played one 1898 afternoon in Oklahoma City. It's destiny calling. Brun runs away to Sedalia, Missouri, to persuade Joplin to take him on as a pupil. What Brun doesn't expect is to trip over the body of a young woman. When a man who befriended Brun his first night in town is arrested for the woman's murder, Brun is certain he's innocent. But if the boy shows anyone the things he carelessly pocketed at the scene-things he now knows belong to Joplin-he'll point the finger at the composer...and himself. With the help of the alcoholic town mayor and John Stark, who's been employing Brun at his music store, the boy begins his search for the killer. Sedalia is rife with suspects, some of them bent on stealing Joplin's music.... Praise for The Ragtime Kid "Karp does a wonderful job of depicting a town steeped in music history and in portraying Joplin." -Publishers Weekly Larry Karp retired from a career in medicine to write mystery novels full-time. A ragtime music buff, Karp decided to explore a strange occurrence from more than a hundred years ago involving composer Scott Joplin. The Ragtime Kid is first in Karp's Scott Joplin series, followed by The King of Ragtime. Larry lives with his wife Myra in Seattle; they have two grown children. www.larrykarp.com