Playing with Fire

 This is the fifth outing for Daniel Jacobus. I feel like I should have started with his first novel Devil’s Trill as, joining the story at this point I felt that I had missed some key information about Daniel’s background and some in jokes along the way. 

 

 

I am a gentle mystery fan. I like Colin Dexter and I enjoyed Castle TV series. This mystery is a mixture of both. It reads like a Morse mystery with its educated and ‘Times Crossword whizz” kinda tone. What I found interesting was Daniel’s perspective on the world. His bitterness and sorrow comes through the text, its done very subtlety. But also, with Daniel being blind the description of the world around him still leans heavily on sound and touch rather than sight, despite the story being written in the third person.

I have not played an instrument since giving up the cornet in primary school, much to my mother delight. But it has been interesting to enter the world and music of Daniel Jacobus. I’ve enjoyed listening to the music talked about in the book, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for example.

I’m looking forward to going back to the beginning of the series of novels. Follow the principal leads and see if the depth of understanding of the characters and the music works better that way.

Synopsis

" When an anxious phone call from obscure violinmaker Amadeo Borlotti disturbs Daniel Jacobus’ Christmas Eve festivities, he and his dear friends Nathaniel and Yumi make light of it. A seemingly humble practitioner of his craft, Borlotti preferred the quiet life in the country away from the limelight. He even found love at an advanced age. But his larceny, which began as a typographical error in a bill for a violin repair, grew incessantly. In the end he became a helpless captive of his past indiscretions and was consumed by it, and it is up to Jacobus and his team to find out how, and why."  The Return of Daniel Jacobus.

Gerald Elias

Gerald Elias

Is a distinguished concertmaster and solo violinist. He learnt violin at 8, was concertmaster under MartinDreiwitz for the Long Island Youth Orchestra.

He taught and played as part of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute , has traveled the world, settled at Utah university for a while before returning to Boston. His first novel, published in 2009, Devil’s Trill was honoured by Barnes & Noble who wrote: “Rich in music detail and featuring a fabulously roguish cast, Devil’s Trill will delight music lovers and mystery fans alike. Danse Macabre, featuring the same roguish cast, was released in September, 2010.”

Books by the same author
Devil's Trill (2009)
Danse Macabre (2010)
Death and the Maiden (2011)
Death and Transfiguration (2012)


Next book: The Boys on the Boat by Daniel James Brown