November 1, 2022
Asked to authenticate a recently unearthed work thought to be by the distinguished white 20th-century composer Frederick Delaney, Delaney expert Bern Hendricks makes an uncomfortable discovery. Delaney apparently lifted much of his music from gifted Black jazz singer Josephine Reed, whom he befriended in 1920s Manhattan. Following Slocumb's attention-getting debut, The Violin Conspiracy.
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February 27, 2023
The thought-provoking latest from Slocumb (after The Violin Conspiracy) centers on fictional early 20th-century composer Frederick Delaney, celebrated for the brilliant music he produced before apparently losing his talent later in life. In the present day, the powerful Delaney Foundation calls in Bernard “Bern” Hendricks, an expert on the composer’s work, after they discover a previously unknown handwritten score of a Delaney opera. Delaney claimed to have lost his only copy of the work, and the clumsy score he recreated flopped when staged in 1936. Overjoyed to find that this version reflects Delaney’s genius, Bern accepts the foundation’s invitation to authenticate it. With the aid of a technology expert friend, Bern identifies cryptic markings on its pages as references to Josephine Reed, a Black musician who was sometimes seen with the white Delaney. When their investigation suggests Reed may have created the great music Delaney claimed as his, the foundation turns threatening in order to protect its namesake’s reputation. Gripping chapters set in the 1920s and 1930s vividly evoke Reed, Delaney, and the racial inequities that fueled their relationship, though the present-day narrative never fully gels. This exploration of the ways race, power, and modern music intersect lands as a timely page-turner. Agent: Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary Management.
February 1, 2023
In 1936, composer Frederick Delaney's reputation is in tatters after the premiere of RED, last in a cycle of operas inspired by the five colored circles in the Olympics flag. Why were his earlier pieces so eloquent and this one so bad? A lifetime later, musicologist Bern Hendricks receives an email from the Delaney Foundation (which has supported hundreds of poor children with musical talent, including him), asking Bern to work on a newly discovered manuscript of RED, richer and fuller than the hack version presented in 1936. He is to prepare it for performance. But Delaney's notation system is indecipherable. (Devotees call the symbols Delaney Doodles.) On top of pages are letters as well: JaR. What do they stand for? Aided by computer whiz Eboni, Bern cracks the code, and they're off on a wild ride. By the end, it's a case of murder and the systematic erasure of the musical contribution of a Black woman who almost certainly authored the music Delaney claimed as his. VERDICT Slocumb's second novel (following The Violin Conspiracy) is an improbable but fun mystery that will attract fans of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (a lot of readers, in other words).--David Keymer
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from March 15, 2023
A scholar discovers his favorite composer's secret in this page-turning thriller. When Bern Hendricks, a musicology professor at the University of Virginia, is contacted by the Delaney Foundation, he's shocked--the organization, dedicated to the legacy of Frederic Delaney, the man Bern considers "the hands-down best composer...in the entire world," is a worldwide phenomenon, with "its name and logo as recognizable as Walt Disney's." Bern is even more floored when it turns out the group has discovered the manuscript of RED, a long-lost Delaney opera, and wants him to prepare it for performance. Bern enlists the help of his friend Eboni, a computer scientist who's worked on musical analysis of Delaney's other operas. Bern discovers a mysterious notation in the copy of RED, which puts him and Eboni on the track of a Black woman named Josephine Reed who knew Delaney, but they can't quite figure out what the relationship entailed--until they do and begin to realize that Delaney, who died of suicide in 1936, might not have been the genius Bern thought he was. The Delaney Foundation is, of course, none too pleased with their discovery. Slocumb's narrative alternates between the present day and the early 20th century, and his transitions are seamless. The dialogue in the novel, particularly between Bern and Eboni, sparkles, and the author does a brilliant job building suspense. Slocumb's debut, The Violin Conspiracy (2022), was solid, but he seems to be having much more fun with this one, writing with a refreshing looseness and well-earned confidence. This is a superb novel that will appeal to any thriller fan, not just readers with an ear for classical music. Sophomore novels don't get much better than this.
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