Fast-Paced Musical Mystery. The Author is an accomplished Classical Violinist and one of a very few African American musicians who have performed in symphonies, won prestigious musical awards and taught at the collegiate level.
Ray McMillian lives a hard scrabble life in rural North Carolina. Unfortunately his circumstances, poor and impoverished make his dream to become an elite, Classical Violinist much harder to accomplish.
His Mother who seems oblivious to his talent, wants him to 'stop the racket' put away the fiddle and get a job at Popeyes to "support the family," The story is at times, a riveting raucous ride of twist and turns.
Who knew? The rosin covered, older than old 'fiddle' that he inherited from his beloved grandfather is actually a rare Stradivarius that is worth millions of dollars. Once he discovers the value of his violin, his musical dreams seem within reach. Until, the eve of the Tchaikovsky competition-the Olympics of the classical violinist world. Ray's violin is stolen. There are a slue of viable thieves, including his family and any and all who know of the violin's worth.
Without his precious violin, Ray's hopes to win the competition are diminished as he struggles to practice as well as help with the investigation into the theft. As the story proceeds, the end offers an unlikely suspect, and added the depth of the story.
The Violin- an old rosin stained trope that turns out to be a rare gem is the quintessential personification of the story.
Ray who grew up poor and somewhat resin stained himself, is actually a hidden gem. His rare talent; an invaluable contribution to the classical world of violinists.
I particularly enjoyed this story because the Author is a classical violinist and the story seemed believable and unusual. Also, it was an education on the classical musical world.
This is a debut Author, who is working on his second novel, which I look forward to reading.
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