Bern Hendricks, one of the world's preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, has just received the call of a lifetime. Hendricks knows everything there is to know about the composer, so when Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation (and a direct descendant of the man himself), asks for Bern's help in authenticating a newly discovered piece that may be Delaney's famous lost opera, Bern jumps at the chance.
With the help of his tech-savvy friend Eboni Washington, Bern soon learns that the truth is far more complicated than history-- and the Delaney Foundation-- would have them believe.
The two begin to uncover more and more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Bern and Eboni are caught in the crosshairs of a very powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, but they are determined to move heaven and earth to right history's wrongs.
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Author Brendan Slocumb's first book, The Violin Conspiracy, was one of my Best Reads last year, so I picked up Symphony of Secrets with a great deal of anticipation. Once again, Slocumb brought me into the world of music and made me feel each note. This book is not only a celebration of music, it also cautions readers about legacy, privilege, and creative genius.
For me, the strongest part of this book was the relationships between various characters and how those relationships changed over time. There's not just the relationship between Bern and Eboni as they work to uncover the truth about world-famous composer Frederick Delaney, there's the relationship between Bern himself and the composer. Bern is a man who has spent his life becoming an expert on Delaney and his music. As more and more facts are uncovered that Delaney did not compose his own music, Bern is no longer the slavish devotee. Now he is a disillusioned knight fighting to right a serious wrong, and if he is to survive, he must shed his naïveté in dealing with the Delaney Foundation.
Perhaps the most profound relationship in Symphony of Secrets is between Frederick Delaney and neurodivergent Josephine Reed, a poor Black woman who just happens to be a musical genius. Theirs is a most personal relationship that also shows how Blacks were treated in the music industry of the 1920s.
I found myself equally enjoying both time periods (present day and the 1920s) as the story unfolded, and I often felt myself working through all the legal and moral implications of what Bern and Eboni were uncovering as they dug up each new clue. Wow. What has Brendan Slocumb got up his sleeve next? I can't wait to find out.
Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
ISBN: 9780593315446
Anchor Books © 2023
Hardcover, 448 pages
Thriller, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from the Poisoned Pen Bookstore.
