A Very Musical Murder
Although much of the action in this novel takes place in 2017, it begins in 1917 and returns there periodically as the plot unravels and links are made between events in both eras.
In 1917, a young woman named Margarethe is believed to have committed suicide by throwing herself from a clock tower. In 2017 Tina, a law student, is murdered, having become embroiled in prostitution due to blackmail; she had also betrayed a friend whom she was helping with an environmental project.
Detective Chief Inspector Doris Lech has just moved from Cologne to the town of Bayreuth, portrayed as a community where everyone knows each other which goes some way to enabling suspension of disbelief at some of the unlikely elements involved in solving the mystery. However, it does not explain how the villains, the apparently irresistible Albert Zweistein and Phil Kill (the name he uses on Facebook!), get away with their dodgy dealings for so long in such an enclosed community.
The 1917 sections also include a character called Albert Zweistein, and the musical aspect referred to in the title relates to a piece of music given to him by composer Siegfried Wagner, who was his lover, who had indiscreetly written both their initials on the first page, resulting in the possibility of blackmail. The disappearance of this page and its partial reappearance a hundred years later constitute the link between the two strands of the novel.
A note from the translator explains the genuine role of Bayreuth related to classical music, while making clear that this story is entirely fictitious. He clearly has a great affection for this town and has rendered into English a pacy read that unfortunately stretches credulity in terms of the behaviour of its characters.
