Review: The Violin Conspiracy

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was struck while listening to this audiobook that this story “felt” like “The Queen’s Gambit”. I have a hard time putting my finger on the similarities, but I believe that both books, unlike most fiction books I’ve read, felt skimpy on the sense of place and strong on the action. In remembering both stories, I remember the plot, but, for instance, I can’t picture the places described. I’ve read a few Westerns recently, and this struck me as the opposite of the Westerns I’ve read, with their descriptions of the land being a big part of the package. I enjoyed the story, a kind of a typical young musical genius story (think Miles Teller in Whiplash) with some illustrations of racist behavior harming the story’s hero, as well as some odd thinking by our hero, in this case suggesting a bizarre contract. The impediments overcome appear to be more class related than anything else (view spoiler)[ as the hero’s opponents are mostly friends and family who want to profit at any cost (hide spoiler)]. The mystery aspect here takes a back seat to the story background, the history and the story of the violin.

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