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ladyhighwayman's review
5.0
The Devil in Music is the best mystery novel that I have ever read and is the final book in the best mystery series I have ever read!
In 1825 Italy, the news of the murder of the highly prominent Lodovico Malvezzi and the concurring disappearance of his protégé Orfeo has spread like wildfire all through Italy and beyond. The problem with this is, this all happened four years before! In 1821 the death of Malvezzi was declared by natural causes, for fear that his death by murder may cause a political uprising.
Upon hearing the news, Julian Kestrel, the infamous London dandy and amateur sleuth, decides to head to Italy instead of heading back home to London while on a trip to the continent. His friend, Dr. MacGregor, who is taking the trip with him, decides to head back to London on his own, but eventually shows up in Italy to help, fearing the Julian may run in to trouble.
Once Julian has settled in Italy, he reaches out to Lodovico's brother Carlo, to offer his services. Carlo readily accepts, but Grimani, the commissario readily dismisses him. However, the family decides that they would like Julian's help and Grimani begrudgingly 'puts up with him.'
Grimani has it set in his head that the missing tenor Orfeo is responsible for Lodovico's death and is a Carbonari, since he disappeared the same night that his mentor was murdered. Julian, of course, thinks that someone else may be responsible.
I've never met such a group of characters before. There are so many, that they are listed in the beginning of the book. We have Lodovico's widow Beatrice, his son Rinaldo, his brother Carlo, Rinaldo's estranged wife Francesca and her lover Valeriano, a visiting French scholar named de la Marque and a slew of others. And like the previous three installments, I saw nothing coming. One revelation at the end of the book almost made me fall of the bed. It was one of the most incredible twists in a mystery novel I've ever come across.
In 1825 Italy, the news of the murder of the highly prominent Lodovico Malvezzi and the concurring disappearance of his protégé Orfeo has spread like wildfire all through Italy and beyond. The problem with this is, this all happened four years before! In 1821 the death of Malvezzi was declared by natural causes, for fear that his death by murder may cause a political uprising.
Upon hearing the news, Julian Kestrel, the infamous London dandy and amateur sleuth, decides to head to Italy instead of heading back home to London while on a trip to the continent. His friend, Dr. MacGregor, who is taking the trip with him, decides to head back to London on his own, but eventually shows up in Italy to help, fearing the Julian may run in to trouble.
Once Julian has settled in Italy, he reaches out to Lodovico's brother Carlo, to offer his services. Carlo readily accepts, but Grimani, the commissario readily dismisses him. However, the family decides that they would like Julian's help and Grimani begrudgingly 'puts up with him.'
Grimani has it set in his head that the missing tenor Orfeo is responsible for Lodovico's death and is a Carbonari, since he disappeared the same night that his mentor was murdered. Julian, of course, thinks that someone else may be responsible.
I've never met such a group of characters before. There are so many, that they are listed in the beginning of the book. We have Lodovico's widow Beatrice, his son Rinaldo, his brother Carlo, Rinaldo's estranged wife Francesca and her lover Valeriano, a visiting French scholar named de la Marque and a slew of others. And like the previous three installments, I saw nothing coming. One revelation at the end of the book almost made me fall of the bed. It was one of the most incredible twists in a mystery novel I've ever come across.
stellar_raven's review
5.0
First of all, I am so sad that I have reached the end of this wonderful series. :(
Moving on, I LOVED this book! It was gripping right from the start and never let up until the end. I literally could not stop reading it yesterday. I'd try. I'd put the book down and go to do something else, but within a matter of moments, I was settled back in and reading.
As before I had no idea who the guilty party was right up until they were unmasked.
However, [huge spoiler under the spoiler tags-read at your own risk.----->]the biggest reveal in the book, the fact that Julian was Orfeo had actually occurred to me early on in the story. You know, in a "Wouldn't it be funny if...?" kind of way. But then something happened in the story that made me dismiss that notion outright only to realize later that I'd been on the right track all along. That's what I love about these books, the author leads the reader on a merry chase dropping clues and red herrings until one isn't quite sure which way is up. It's fantastic!
I loved the backstory/character development we got on Julian in this book! I'd been so curious as to his history, and it was nice to have some of the blanks filled in.
Again, it's such a shame that the author was taken from us so young. You could see that she had great things in store for Julian and company.
I highly recommend this series to any mystery fan.
Moving on, I LOVED this book! It was gripping right from the start and never let up until the end. I literally could not stop reading it yesterday. I'd try. I'd put the book down and go to do something else, but within a matter of moments, I was settled back in and reading.
As before I had no idea who the guilty party was right up until they were unmasked.
However, [huge spoiler under the spoiler tags-read at your own risk.----->]
I loved the backstory/character development we got on Julian in this book! I'd been so curious as to his history, and it was nice to have some of the blanks filled in.
Again, it's such a shame that the author was taken from us so young. You could see that she had great things in store for Julian and company.
I highly recommend this series to any mystery fan.
randommichelle's review
5.0
Alas, I've (again) finished all the Julian Kestrel books, and shall never have new stories to enjoy.
renc7c69's review
4.0
Really loved it, the first and last book were the best in the series. I love books about the English Regency but I've been wanting to read something set in Italy around the same period. This is just perfect in that regard, painting a picture of Piedmont and Lombardy circa 1825. Julian Kestrel is his usual smartass self, and the mystery is transparent (especially Orfeo's identity) but still entertaining. In the last chapters there is an account of Julian's backstory, which made me sad because it felt as if the author knew it'd be her last book and she wanted to cram as much information as she could in those few pages. I'm going to miss those characters.
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