The Quartet Murders by J.R. EllisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
DCI Jim Oldroyd is, as we know, a lover of classical music. However, he gets more than he bargains for when he witnesses the lead violinist of the Schubert String Quartet being assassinated during a performance of Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden at the Halifax Red Chapel Arts Centre. Not only that, while the DCI is trying to keep everyone calm and preserve the scene, someone makes off with the victim's extremely rare and valuable Munsterhaven Stradivarius violin, one of nine stringed instruments made for Baron Munsterhaven by Stradivarius all of which bear the Baron's coat of arms. Not only that but when they search the arts centre the assassin has disappeared, there are no ways of exiting the building that were not in full sight of some of the staff the entire time. A classic locked room mystery.
Joining forces with the local police, Jim and DS Andy Carter struggle to find both the assassin and the missing violin, until another member of the quartet is assassinated in his home. Now it appears as though wealthy instrument collectors will stop at nothing to possess such a rare violin.
It also appears that the victim, Hans Muller may not have acquired the Stradivarius in the most above-board fashion, there are rumours that it is 'Nazi Gold', ie a precious article stolen from a Jewish family during WW2 by the Nazis. Could the murders be associated with radical groups trying to repatriate stolen treasures?
I enjoyed this, J.R. Ellis clearly likes to research his subjects thoroughly, hence each chapter describes a different rare Stradivarius violin and their history, I suppose with an instrument over 300 years old it is unsurprising that they have variously been lost, stolen, hidden, and mislaid over the years. I have two gripes, first (view spoiler), and second there really aren't any developments in either Jim or Andy's personal lives (at least on the page), if you are going to give some personal backstory then it needs to develop somewhat.
On to book three.
Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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