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Fiction. Mystery. HTML: Something is terribly wrong at Symphony Hall. Luigi Spadafini, the symphony's star conductor, has been murdered-and the entire orchestra has confessed to the crime. This is the mess that Detective Lieutenant Pratt walks into one Saturday morning. Overworked and tired, he's also saddled with Detective Ellis, the newest member of the homicide squad and still very wet behind the ears. With both the mayor and several big shots from the symphony's board of directors demanding a speedy resolution of the crisis, Pratt is pushed to the limit. The trouble is, he also faces a seemingly endless list of suspects with good reasons to want the philandering Spadafini dead. With the clock ticking, Pratt is forced to use both his wits and the computer skills of Detective Ellis to solve the mystery..… (more)
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Detective Lieutenant Pratt is being pressured by the mayor, and some big shots on the board of directors to close the case quickly and with as little publicity as possible. With his long list of suspects with motives to kill the egotistical, philandering, nasty Spadafini Pratt is feeling the pressure. However with some luck and good police work the case is solved within a few hours.
The novella format works but I think it leaves the reader out of the detecting because the length of the book has been pre-determined. On the whole Blechta is able to develop the personalities of the key characters and link this to the solving of the murder.
“Orchestrated Murder” is the second book in the Rapid Read series I have read. “Rapid Reads focus first and foremost on strong writing and storytelling. We are committed to providing books that will help adults achieve their literacy goals in an interesting and accessible way. Each novel in the Rapid Reads series is written between a 2.0 and 4.5 reading level. The plots are contemporary and entertaining, with adult language and themes.” . I can’t speak for all their audiences but I found it to be an enjoyable, quick read. For English as a Second Language (ESL) and adults who struggle with literacy the series offers a variety of interesting fiction and non-fiction, which would encourage them to read. I would read from this series again and I do recommend it to others,
Published by Raven Books: Rapid Reads
A most unusual way to begin an investigation into a murder--the entire orchestra has claimed they are guilty! Someone has murdered the conductor, Luigi Spandafini, but which one of the orchestra is the murderer, and who is
This was an entertaining book and a quick read. Smoothly written and easy to follow, but still with a satisfying mystery. Spandafini was not a well-liked person overall, though a brilliant conductor. He was also well-known for chasing skirts and attacking the orchestra members. Apparently the members of the orchestra held him to blame indirectly for the deaths of two members. Curiously, the timpani player and the cellist were the victims.
Rick Blechta has done an excellent job of creating a fascinating closed-room murder mystery packed into a short book, maintaining the feel and allure of the murder mystery genre. Just right for the commuter or someone with a busy schedule. There are the usual twists and turns, misdirection, and of course what is probably the largest group of suspects all in one place. I really enjoyed it and read it in one go.
Orchestrated Murder was great -- a mystery set in an orchestra is perfect for a music lover like me. It had all the intrigue you would expect from a group of musicians and a solution that made sense once it was revealed. Highly satisfying.
As it turns out, of course, everyone hated Spadini; admittedly a genius but he was a tough taskmaster, a womanizer and just a plain old SOB. It seems the orchestra members used to joke about the different methods of doing him in. I guess someone really meant it!
Even though Ellis is brand new in the department, he is skilled in technology while Detective Pratt is pretty much just putting in time until his retirement and thinks technology a waste of effort. Good old-fashioned police work should suffice. You guessed it! The rookie shows up the veteran detective. Quite the cliched plot we have here. No sense of place and with little character development along with a few weak plot points, this book was a "meh" read for me. The best thing is it was short.
As with my prior selection, as a tool for helping in adult literacy programs, this would be another good choice. I also think it would be great for someone that wanted a light ,quick read, something that could be finished in a waiting room.
That said, this was a concise, interesting murder mystery that wrapped up in 122 pages. I enjoyed the details of behind the scenes of the orchestra as much as I did the who done it.
This book is part of the publisher's Rapid Reads collection, and,
Music is one of my special interests, and I enjoy reading mysteries that involve the music world. The author is a musician and has written other novels, including one that was shortlisted for the Ellis Award. I'm happy for the opportunity to discover a new-to-me author, and I've already added another of his books to my wish list.
This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
It is a good quality short story/novella that is fast paced, which accords with the "Rapid Reads" theme, and is also entertaining. It can be read in a couple of hours.
The shortness of the story means there is little character development -- the
The resolution of the murder mystery comes naturally, although there's no explanation of the murderer's means. There's a motive and opportunity, but the means is not discussed at all, e.g. how did he access the cello?
A lot has been sacrificed for the sake of brevity. It is good as a short story/novella and it would have been much better as a longer book.