Reviews with content warning for Murder - Symphony of Secrets

4.5* Even if you didn't like The Violin Conspiracy (which I loved), you might still like this one. It's not technically noir, but has that vibe. While it is about a composer and music academia, it didn't feel as music heavy as the first one. I didn't understand a lot of the musical references in the first book, but I didn't have that problem here. I highly recommend this one (also The Violin Conspiracy if you haven't read it yet).

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sierrajhansen's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

this book was sooooooooo sloooooowwwwww and for most of my time reading, i just didn't have the urge to pick it up. my dopamine-craving brain had no business reading at this snail pace, but it i guess it was ~enriching~. HOWEVER, when i forced myself to read as much as possible of this book in one sitting, i was able to get past the first two sections of the book (~150 pages) and THEN it started picking up a bit. by the end i was having a pretty good time, but it took me so long to want to read this book that it really docked my opinion of it.

that being said, i did really enjoy the story line and the way that the author switched back and forth between the past and the present. while i wouldn't call this a thriller (and i'm not really sure why anyone would...), i was definitely eager to find out what happened to josephine once we got in the thick of her storyline.

i found the ending to be a little sickeningly sweet.

like, we go from getting tased and humiliated by the cops to coming out on top of these extremely rich white people? and then kurt delaney gets shushed by his younger family members? it felt kind of like when you watch an excessively happy movie at the movie theater and you leave and walk in the parking lot and you kind of want to pump your fist in the air because you're so giddy, but it's also really fucking embarrassing.

it felt unrealistic, which was out of place for a book that felt less thriller and more slice-of-life.

anyways. this was pretty good when everything was said and done, but i can't give this one a higher rating considering that it might have put me in a lowkey book slump and it's unclear if i would have read it as fast as ended up reading it had it not been for a book club and an anniversary gift. i'm super conflicted because the writing was amazing and i felt like i was there and that the characters were real people, but my brain just could not get the mojo to pick this one up without being threatened by a deadline. it's a mixed bag but if you enjoy things that are slow-paced and pretty long then you will like this. i'd read it again if i was old and didn't feel the constant pressure to be doing something more fun and exciting and better with my time.

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ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This had a little bit of everything for me, and I loved the ending. I’m always rooting for the underdog, so for me, while the historical events were awful, I loved how Josephine got all that she wanted, even if that wasn’t how she wanted to get it.

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jupytwo's review

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informative tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I’m so glad I decided to pick up this book on a whim from the library. It’s a tribute to all artists whose works were erased in history and is inspiring me to play my piano more! I love an interwoven story.

my main ick was the romance plot…. not well written i would say.

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thrillofthepage's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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onegalonelife27's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Schloub has done it again, weaving a musical mystery! I truly enjoyed this one.

One day, Dr. Bern Hendrix gets a mysterious call from the spokeswoman of the Frederick Delaney foundation, founded by one of America’s famous composers, to come over to their office. When we are introduced to Frederick Delaney and his work, I honestly got a bit jealous. I would love to hear this music talked about, especially the masterpiece “Five Rings of Olympia” an opera in five parts Delaney wrote. Yet with the last one, “Red”, the original draft was lost and Delaney could only write a subpar version afterwards. Yet almost a century of its disappearance, the first draft is found and The Delaney Foundation wants Bern to transcribe and make it performance ready. One thing that makes it tricky is the series of drawings, known as Delaney doodles, are used to indicate how certain parts are to be played. So he asked one Eboni Washington, computer expert and former colleague of his to help look over the drafts, hoping to decipher the doodles. Together they discover that the doodles, and perhaps the music itself, are tied to a Josephine Reed, a Black woman barely mentioned in the foundation’s archives. So thus the search for Josephine Reed starts.

Just as the modern duo are left with more questions than answers, we get a shift back in time to meet Frederick “Freddy” Delaney. A young man with a love of music and ambition, but who lacks talents to match that. After one event, he happens to meet “Crazy Jo”, Josephine, a neurodiverse Black woman, and after hearing her play, he begs for lessons. Soon enough, his talent takes off and a friendship begins. However, when he discovers her own talent for composing songs, he wastes no time in transcribing and putting his name on the music, claiming music by a Black woman wouldn’t sell. For a while, this arrangement works for both of them. Yet the more and more famous Delaney now “Fred” gets, the more and more pressure he puts on Josephine to keep coming up with music that she doesn’t get credit for…

And just as Bern and Eboni discover the role Josephine had in the music, the Delaney Foundation begins to crack down on the both of them, wanting everything they found on Josephine and will do whatever it takes…

With the point of view split between Bern in modern times and Delaney and Josephine’s in the late 1910s to early 1920s, we get tensions on both sides. Bern basically worships Delaney, due the Foundation helping underprivileged kids get a chance music, known as Delaney kids. Bern is one of those and has focused his life to studying Delaney work. Yet not only discovering his idol is not who he thought he was, but also facing the tactics the foundation pulls to halt his research on Josephine. Bern’s arc is gripping as we see someone more starry-eyed about the world, slowly realizing harsh truths but not letting that stop him from revealing the truth, especially with Eboni at his side, no matter what. Delaney starts out as a kid with a dream, trying to make it in the big city, and does really care for Josephine at the beginning, and Josephine is at first overwhelmed but happy to have the stability and chances to hear music Delaney gives her. Yet as “Delaney” music grows more and more popular, we see a devolution? Character regression? Not sure what the proper term for what Delaney goes through to become the man he becomes, but it is interesting. And Josephine’s own story is both inspiring and heartbreaking, I’ll say that, the ending provides catharsis for both Bern and Josephine.

If you like a different kind of mystery, complex characters, and overall justice prevailing and righting the wrongs of history, I highly recommend this one!

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