"DEVIL'S TRILL," by Gerald Elias, Minotaur Books, 352 pages, $25.99
The casual observer wouldn't expect to find greed, lust for power and intrigue in the world of classical music.
But an insider knows that there is a dark side, too, just as in any enterprise. The classical music business can be, and often is, ruthless and cutthroat.
This callous disregard for who gets hurt is present in music competitions, in the behind the scenes dealings of record companies and management agencies — but it is usually always well hidden behind a facade of genteel manners.
It isn't something anyone wants to admit or talk about, but it's there.
And for Gerald Elias' fertile mind, the corruption that exists there is the starting point for his delightfully wicked and no-holds-barred debut novel, "Devil's Trill," which taps into the shady side of competitions.
The Holbrooke Grimsley International Violin Competition is held once every 13 years for musicians 13 and younger. The grand prize is a concert in Carnegie Hall and the chance to play the legendary "Piccolino" Stradivari, a three-quarter sized violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1713 for the diminutive (and fictional) virtuoso Matteo Cherubino, known as "Il Piccolino," who was killed by his lover's husband while holding the instrument trying to protect himself.
Misfortune plagues all those who come into contact with the "Piccolino," or so Daniel Jacobus believes. He is the curmudgeonly, vulgar and chain-smoking main character of "Devil's Trill."
Struck by blindness on the eve of becoming the Boston Symphony's new concertmaster, Jacobus now lives in western Massachusetts. A violinist and teacher of profound talent and artistry, he takes private students but hates it.
Jacobus goes to Carnegie Hall to attend the recital by 9-year-old Kamryn Vander, the latest winner of the Grimsley Competition. But his real reason for being there is to steal the "Piccolino" and destroy it. But somebody beats him to it, and circumstances make Jacobus the prime suspect.
His old friend, Nathaniel Williams, who now works for the insurance company that has insured the "Piccolino," asks for Jacobus' help in recovering the violin.
In the meantime, Victoria Jablonski, a former student of Jacobus' and now a celebrated teacher and his rival, is brutally murdered and everything points to Jacobus as the killer.
Searching for the violin takes Jacobus, Williams and Yumi Shinagawa, Jacobus' newest student, whom he drags along, to Japan and back to New York.
Eventually, Jacobus figures out who killed Jablonski and what happened to the violin, but not without risking his life in the process.
Elias has written a nicely paced thriller that turns into a page turner. It starts out a bit slowly, with a violin lesson where Jacobus explains to Yumi in great detail how to approach the music she plays and how to play the violin to bring out feeling and emotion. And occasionally, the action slows down with extended discussions of music, but "Devil's Trill" ends up being a good, old-fashioned mystery that the reader will find hard to put down.
With Jacobus, Elias has created a memorable character, who despite his gruffness and anti-social behavior, one can't help but like.
And throughout their adventure in trying to retrieve the "Piccolino" and solve the murder, Jacobus and Yumi develop a bond, and both end up respecting each other for who they are and what they can bring to their relationship.
Mystery buffs will enjoy "Devil's Trill." It's quite a musical and suspense filled ride that will keep the reader wondering until the end.
e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com