Playing with Fire: A Daniel Jacobus Mystery

Elias’s pleasant fifth Daniel Jacobus mystery (after 2012’s Death and Transfiguration) finds the aging blind violinist and wisecracking curmudgeon enjoying a Christmas weekend at home in the Berkshires with former pupil Yumi, now an internationally known star violinist, and longtime cellist friend Nathaniel, an acclaimed consultant on musical-instrument fraud. When a neighbor, violin-maker Amadeo Borlotti, phones late on Christmas Eve and asks if he, Borlotti, can come over to talk, Jacobus brushes him off. On Christmas morning, Jacobus and friends are shocked to learn that Borlotti’s house has burned down and he has vanished. The local police soon determine that no violins were in the wreckage and that Borlotti had a lot more money than his modest occupation could provide. The subsequent discovery of a body in a bass case raises the stakes. Jacobus indulges his inner Sherlock in a low-key tale that examines music as metaphor, provides insights into the creation of world-class violins, and exposes how some people can turn arson and insurance fraud into lucrative careers. (Sept.)