Devil's Trill

Devil's Trill
Gerald Elias
Minotaur Books, 2009. 306 p. Mystery

The Devil’s Trill opens with a slightly lurid tale relaying the origins of the infamous ¾ length, 18th century Stradivarius violin known as the Piccolino. From there we’re off on an adventure that centers around the violin’s present day whereabouts and its startling theft from Carnegie Hall. Jacobus, a crotchety violin teacher whose blindness facilitates his exquisite musical ear, is the novel’s ingenious protagonist and recalcitrant detective. His leitmotif is that of an irreverent, sharp-tongued, philosophical music purist with an odd sense of humor and an interesting moral compass. Jacobus will uncover a number of mysteries during his frantic search for the 8 million dollar instrument but the most troubling is deciding whether his talented and lovely young Japanese student is somehow involved.

Bravo! As the Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, we’re proud to claim Elias as one of our own and a smattering of Utah references throughout the book will have the locals clapping. Some suggestive passages and a few lusty innuendos will make a tender reader blush, but mystery buffs and classical music lovers alike will delight in Gerald Elias’s performance--fine writing and some lovely musical expositions. After this rousing debut with shouts of Encore ringing in his ear, we’re hoping Elias’s second piece is soon finished. And as the author himself says of music, perhaps the book’s minor flaws will add to the work’s overall beauty instead of offering too-cold perfection.

DAP