Vaclav Herza, the last of a dying breed of great but tyrannical conductors, has been the long-time music director of the world-famous orchestra, Harmonium, since fleeing political turmoil in Eastern Europe for America in the mid-twentieth century.
When Herza summarily dismisses the acting concertmaster, Scheherazade O’Brien, from an audition she was poised to win and awards the position to Yumi Shinagawa, a former student of blind, cantankerous violin teacher Daniel Jacobus, the results are lethal, convulsing the entire orchestra.
Jacobus, who had earlier shunned O’Brien’s plea for support against Herza’s relentless harassment, investigates Herza’s closely held secrets. With the help of his old friends Nathaniel Williams, Max Furukawa, and Martin Lilburn, Jacobus seeks not only revenge but redemption from the guilt of his own troubled past.
Mengenai Pengarang
Gerald Elias leads a double life as a world-class musician and critically acclaimed author. Devil’s Trill, the debut novel of his award-winning Daniel Jacobus mystery series that takes place in the dark corners of the classical music world, was a Barnes & Noble Discover: Great New Writers selection. In 2020 he penned The Beethoven Sequence, a chilling psycho-political thriller. Elias’s prize-winning essay, ‘War & Peace. And Music, ‘ excerpted from his memoir, Symphonies & Scorpions, was the subject of his TEDx Salt Lake City2019 presentation. His short stories and essays have appeared in prestigious journals ranging from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine to The Strad. A former violinist with the Boston Symphony and associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, Elias has performed on five continents and has been the conductor of Salt Lake City’s popular Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber orchestra series since 2004. He maintains a vibrant concert career while continuing to expand his literary horizons.