Devil’s Trill by Gerald Elias

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Gerald Elias
• Title: Devil's Trill (A Daniel Jacobus Mystery)
• Publisher: ‎ Minotaur Books; First Edition (August 18, 2009)
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Hardcover – 306 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0312541813
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0312541811
• Item Weight: ‎ 1.10 pounds
• Dimensions: ‎ 6.39 x 1.2 x 9.56 inches
• Book Condition: Used – Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good (minor cut from box cutter on bottom front edge)
• Edition: First Edition

Synopsis:

From concert violinist Gerald Elias comes this debut set in the classical music world about the theft of a priceless violin.

Daniel Jacobus is a blind, reclusive, crotchety violin teacher living in self-imposed exile in rural New England. He spends his time chain-smoking, listening to old LPs, and occasionally taking on new students, whom he berates in the hope that they will flee.

Jacobus is drawn back into the world he left behind when he decides to attend The Grimsley Competition at Carnegie Hall. The young winner of this competition is granted the honor of playing the Piccolino Stradivarius, a uniquely dazzling three-quarter-size violin that has brought misfortune to all who possessed it over the centuries. But the violin is stolen before the winner of the competition has a chance to play it, and Jacobus is the primary suspect.

With the help of his friend and former musical partner, Nathaniel Williams, his new student, Yumi Shinagawa, and several quirky sidekicks, Jacobus sets out to prove his innocence and find the stolen Piccolino Strad. Will he be successful? The quest takes him through the halls of wealth and culture, across continents to Japan, and leads him to a…murder.

Devil’s Trill gives the reader a peek into the world of classical music, with its backstabbing teachers and performers, venal patrons, and shady violin dealers. It is the remarkable beginning of a wonderful new series.

About the Author:

Gerald Elias's mystery, "Roundtree Days," was a coveted Killer Nashville Silver Falchion award finalist for Best Western Mystery of 2023.

His critically acclaimed Daniel Jacobus mystery series is set in the dark corners of the classical music world, of which Elias is intimately familiar as a former violinist with the Boston Symphony and as a noted conductor, composer, and teacher. The series debut, “Devil’s Trill,” was a Barnes & Noble Discover: Great New Writers selection. And now there are eight, most recently "Murder at the Royal Albert," which is being made into a unique audiobook with music performed by the Boston Symphony, other great musicians, and Elias himself.

Elias has self-published a collection of tantalizing short mysteries, "It's A Crime!" His short stories and essays have graced prestigious journals and magazines, including his story, "A Scarab for Normandy" in the wildly successful anthology, Coolest American Stories 2023. His psychological thriller, "The Beethoven Sequence," was published by Level Best Books in 2020.

Elias continues to expand his literary and musical horizons. Recent projects included audio books of the first two installments of the Jacobus series, "Devil's Trill" and "Danse Macabre," in which he also performed the music. His memoir, “Symphonies and Scorpions,” a rare insider’s view of the world of a touring orchestral musician, is set against the backdrop of historic concert tours to China by the Boston Symphony.