Great to hear your thoughts on The Last Movement (I’ve purchased but it haven’t started it yet) and I’ve been wondering about The Fire Concerto.
The Fire Concerto is a bit convoluted at times but overall I enjoyed it. Let me know what you think if you read it.
@Diane_Jones and @Roberta_Winchester since you both seem to enjoy books with musical themes have you read Brendan Slocumb? He has two really good mysteries: The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets that I would recommend to you.
Thank you Anne. I’ve read both of them and enjoyed them. I like to read music and art related mysteries especially. I’m also fascinated by the books about art forgeries.
I’m so happy @Roberta_Winchester. I got to meet Brendan Slocumb last year at book festival and he was so kind.
Have you read The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith? He came to my book club for a discussion of this book when he lived locally. Really great history in this one.The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer is one that has been languishing on my wish list. Maybe I’ll get to it one day when I need something lighter. Another one that I think has gone under the radar is The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds. Set in 1920s French countryside it was a real surprise to me how much I liked it.
With that I think I have exhausted my list of art mysteries. Do you have a favorite?
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Anne - Thank you for your recommendations! I read Slocumb’s The Violin Conspiracy about the time it was released. I haven’t read his second or third books.
I naively didn’t realize that there was a Tchaikovsky competition for any instrument other than piano (until I read The Violin Conspiracy). I heard so much about Van Cliburn’s amazing piano performance at the 1958 competition when Cliburn was still living that I guess he eclipsed all the other competitions.
I loved watching Cliburn’s international piano competition (live streamed in 2025) and I decided to attend a concert by the most recent gold medal winner (Aristo Sham) when he was at the Sanibel Music Festival this Spring.
There is a wonderful biography on Van Cliburn by Nigel Cliff - Moscow Nights.
I also enjoy art history (non fiction or historical mystery). I learned so much from Christopher Gorham’s Matisse at War. I had no idea that his daughter was an active member of the French Resistance.
Anne - The Last Painting of Sara de Los has been on my TBR; how lovely that he was a guest at your book club! I haven’t read The Lost Van Gogh, but did read Santlofer’s The Last Mona Lisa and seem to remember enjoying it.
One of my book clubs read Artiface by Sharon Cameron earlier this year. The group liked it and I was grateful that I had read B(Barbara) A Shapiro’s *The Art Forger* previously since both books reference art forger Han van Meegeren and how his counterfeits “tricked” the Nazis.
Thank you for mentioning author Lucy Steeds. I need to check out her books as well!
I love that this sub-genre of books creates a great intersection where so many of us can meet as readers. I know very little about art or music but there is an atmosphere surrounding artists of all kinds that I find intriguing.
Just a note about Brendan Slocumb’s books. His third is much darker than the first two. It also has a big component of cartooning that is also an interest of the young musical prodigy. There is also drug running and black markets. It just felt really different from the first two.
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Diane_Jones too: Those are all great recommendations and I haven’t read some of those. I like BA Shapiro’s books too, although her latest The Lost Masterpiece wasn’t as good as the other ones (the modern day character was a real airhead in my opinion). Have you read And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer? It involves a long lost manuscript by JS Bach. Also, a good book that I read many years ago is Dissonance by Lisa Lenard-Cook. A pianist inherits the journals and scores of a composer she knows nothing about. On my TBR pile is The Collector by Daniel Silva. It’s about a missing Vermeer. Have you read that one?
There may be others I can’t think of at the moment, but I’ll try to mention them another time.
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Roberta - Thank you, thank you! Our TBR lists must be similar! I did read And After the Fire (although quite awhile ago; I should give it a second reading). Dissonance sounds very interesting - and it is new to me - thank you for the rec!
I have a college friend that likes Daniel Silva so I keep thinking about picking up one of his books (but haven’t yet). I’ve often been curious about the one titled The Cellist.
You probably have read Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M K Anderson. Difficult history but Shostakovich’s love for his city is so beautifully portrayed.
I am reading a book for book club that I don’t care for, THE HOUSEMAID’S SECRET by Freida McFadden.
and @Diane_Jones I read And After the Fire and really liked it. I’ve been reluctant to start with Daniel Silva because that is such a long series. I don’t know how it would be jumping into the middle. I think someone once recommended to me The Cellist of Sarajevo—it was a long time ago.
Likewise! Thanks for those recommendations. I haven’t read those Russian ones. My TBR pile is getting huge!
Did you know that, in the UK, each part of THE ELEMENTS was sold as a separate book? I agree that John Boyne is a wonderful writer. I’ve read several of his books and liked them all. But this one wasn’t my favorite. I’m glad, at least, that we got all the parts at once, in one book.
I did know that The Elements were sold as separate publications. I have a copy of the book on my tbr shelf. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I do wish we were more like UK and others who get paperback originals rather than hardbacks.
I did like THE ELEMENTS. I just liked Boyne’s other books better.
I finished Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett, which was an enjoyable escape, a perfect beginning of summer book for me. I also read Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester, which I also quite enjoyed. I loved the satirical aspect, and the generational battle. I am on the cusp of being a Boomer, and work with Millennials, and while I don’t have any revengeful thoughts, I could relate to the differing perspectives. Currently finishing up Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke, and am planning to read Whistler by one of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett. I am looking forward to getting lost in her world.
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Just watch the movie it’s better!
I just finished A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst. It was a fascinating tale of survival, and I really couldn’t put it down. I’m always enthralled by true stories of human survival in the most unbelievable, harrowing circumstances. The fact that this couple even lived amazes me.
Thanks, Anne! I really appreciate your points! (And, good to know about Brendan Slocumb’s third book, the Dark Maestro,)