The Violin Conspiracy is a beautiful and thoughtful book written by Brendan Slocumb. As a Black violinist the author certainly has a wealth of experience and information to share about this world. Competition, racism, family, love, trust and theft are among the topics handled deftly. I was drawn in from the beginning and rode the scales to the end. Highly recommend!

Before I get in to my review: assuming you are reading this before you start reading the book, go pull up the playlist posted by the author on Spotify. It is over 5 hours of classical music to provide the perfectly themed background to reading this book. And now on to the review.....

This book combines the world of classical music and racism. It feels like an unlikely combination but it works. The story starts off right away with the theft of the violin but then takes the reader back to the time when Ray began his love of fiddling. By the time you get back to the present, and the loss of the violin, you have forgotten that it was stolen. The story pulls you in that much! Likewise, this mystery would have been compelling without the inclusion of the bigotry against Ray and other minority musicians. Its addition just increases the depth of the story. I will say, however, that I did not feel the parts that focused on the racial events were as strongly written as those dealing with music. I think maybe they were a bit too real for the author as it is stated in his notes that many of these events actually took place. Additionally, I was not completely satisfied with the resolution to the mystery. I can't say more without a potential spoiler. But, this was a beautiful page turner that will have you looking up musical terms and humming a few classical tunes.

3.75 stars

A stellar debut novel featuring a layered and appealing main character - Ray, a young Black man of amazing musical talent. Ray is all about the music -- he plays with fire and emotion and loves sharing that with an audience. And this is despite the fact that he received little or no support or encouragement to pursue his dream while he was growing up, and has to experience racial hatred or discrimination regularly.

The plot is interesting -- Ray is given an old fiddle which belonged to his beloved grandmother's grandfather, a slave. It turns out to be immensely valuable and the mystery plot of the book has to do with its theft. It's not "just" a musical instrument or family heirloom to Ray. It's a huge part of what he does with his music and a constant reminder of his Grandmother Nora. Ray's family isn't horrible, but they (except for his grandma and his Aunt Rochelle) are pretty selfish and self-centered.

We get to know Ray pretty well and like what we see. He mostly manages to maintain his equilibrium through various sets of bizarre and unsettling circumstances. Ray, his girlfriend, and his mentor are trying to prepare him for his participation in the amazingly prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition while simultaneously trying to find his violin, staving off two legal challenges, and fundraising for the ransom.

Interesting plot with a surprise ending and a great insight into the very non-diverse world of professional classical musicians and orchestras. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

With its strong plot line and clear voice this story is engaging and suspenseful. It's gripping in its intensity. If you like discovering debut authors as much as I do definitely take time to take a look at this up and coming author. Happy reading!

Want to know what people really think of you? Stand between them and a big, fat payday. You will get your actual, genuine position in their hierarchy delivered at express speed and before the varnish could be applied, still less dried.

Rayquan (usually "Ray") McMillian learns that there's nothing in this world like the benjamins to bring stuff into focus very early: He grows up without anything extra and the minimum was as cheap as it could reasonably be (often enough cheaper). As soon as it became possible, Ray was pressured to stop wasting time with his stupid fiddling and get a shelf-stockin' job to "help the family" (aka his selfish mother). Time to make horrible noises on his fiddle was more than merely grudged, it was a source of actual anger...seen as selfish, unproductive, the action of a loser. (All those fingers pointin' back from the accusatory poking one missed her notice, it seems.)

You knew there'd be a grandmother in here, right? One who Believes in Ray? You were right, there is.

And a more wonderful soul it's hard to conjure. I was all ready to Pearl-Rule this bad boy before Grandma Nora (she whose belief in Ray makes her "talk so sweet {about him} it could give you diabetes") came on stage, I was so pissed off at the Philistines and money-grubbers Ray has to call family! What malign genetic flub gave Grandma Nora a daughter like Ray's mom?! And there's no end to the nasty, of course, since this is a thriller/mystery. But that's the tour I signed up to take, and was ready for. A bracing dose of lovingkindness later, it was all gas no brakes and that finish line won't know what hit it.

Ray, as you'll have gathered, is a fine musician and to hell with his grasping, whiny mother complaining about the "racket" his practicing makes. He perseveres, Grandma Nora's staunchness in his corner, and actually begins to climb the ladder of classical violin's performance hierarchy. What he faces along the way is no surprise to anyone reasonably sentient, as his ethnicity is used by everyone around him. Only rarely to help him, I'm sure you'll be stunned to learn. His other shining light is his teacher, his one professional mentor, Dr, Janice Stevens. She makes school a haven, a place where someone really gets him and sees the music in his being.

Ray's early training in Keep Calm and Carry On within the loving bosom of his family pays off. That ability to focus is his superpower. It leads him to the *pinnacle* of a violin soloist's ambitions: the International Tchaikovsky Competition, a quadrennial classical-music Olympics that unquestionably makes a musician's career. Even competing there is a leg up...and for a Black man raised with nothing, it is damned near unprecedented for him to be there.

That? That's enough novel for most of us. But Author Slocumb said, "...now, what happens if the Black man happens to get a Stradivarius from his grandmother...?"

What happens is betrayal, heartbreak, and the kind of publicity you damn sure can't pay for. Broken hearts mend; wounds don't fester forever; a career launched into the stratosphere by a juicy scandal leads to a lifetime of opportunities. Ones Ray's absolutely up to taking full advantage of, coming away with a silver medal in spite of the horrors around his violin's rape from him. This one unique possession, it will surprise no one to learn, opens so many doors to him. It will not surprise anyone, either, that he walks boldly up to the doors expecting them to open...and they do.

Ray's search for the thief of his prized possession, his almost desperate desire not to believe where the search leads him, and his dogged perseverance through it all speak volumes for the value of adversity surmounted in creating character. I think Author Slocumb did exactly the right thing by enabling Ray to reach back, to offer a hand of fellowship from his place of privilege.
<blockquote>Ray made it a point to highlight music by Black and Latinx composers. After all those years fighting and proving wrong the preconceptions that people who looked like him couldn't play the music of dead white men, he dove into the phenomenal music written by those people who did indeed look like him.</blockquote>
It is the thing that defines my memory of Ray McMillian, fictional character: He worked his ass off, he focused on the problem at hand, and he stomped the daylights out of the inner voices installed early that demanded he think about unimportant stuff instead of powering himself, supercharging his gifts with well-honed talents.

In the end, what matters in a life? Looking back, what difference does any of what we do make?
<blockquote>"Music's the gift. Caring's the gift. There are a lot of ways apart from a concert hall to make a difference in someone's life."</blockquote>
That's Dr. Janice Stevens, if you're wondering, having a ghostly chat with post-disaster Ray. Thanks, Janice. Whatever your name, wherever you might be...whichever one of us you reached out for, gave a hand to...Thanks to the Janices the world over who do something easy for them and priceless to the recipient.

Care.

I really enjoyed reading this book - I had to know how it ended and wasn't disappointed. It was rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. I can see this one becoming a movie. It had the same affect on me as Razorblade Tears. I only worry that this will be his one and only book because at the in the Author's Note, it sounded like it was more of a life story.
Thank you to #netgalley and #anchorbooks for an ecopy for an honest opinion -#pubdate02/01/2022

This grabbed me right at the beginning. Ray is an aspiring violinist. When he returns home to Charlotte he finds that his prized violin is missing and in the case is a ransom note for $5 million. From there we back track and learn that Ray is a black kid that just wants to play music, classical violin, but his mother wants him to stop making that noise, get his GED and then a job at Popeye's to help her pay the bills. He is determined and pretty much self taught. He can't play in the summer because he has to give his rental instrument back to the school. His grandmother shares with him that her father, Ray's great-grandfather, played the fiddle. He was a slave and played for his master and eventually the master gave him his freedom and the fiddle to keep. She finds it and gives it to him for Christmas that year. Upon taking it to be repaired and cleaned up it is revealed to be a Stradivarius worth $10 million.

This is so much more than a mystery. The slave owner's descendants are suing him to get back the violin they feel is rightfully theirs. His own mother and aunts and uncles are suing him because they feel it rightfully still belongs to them. Actually his mother was a horror and I have no idea why he even gave her the time of day. It is about racism and all the slights and violence he encounters as he pursues his career.

There was a lot of music and since I have no musical background I didn't always understand but I did google and watch videos of some of the music he mentioned.

I would like to thank Knopf Doubleday and Netgalley for my copy of this novel.

There are different types of leeches in the world. Some you call family, some you call girlfriend, some you don’t really know. They comes out of their caves when you show some promise of something they wouldn’t understand or care yet they know they can benefit from it. They might want to rob you of what you deserve, what you worked for. Or they might want to take credit for your success or even luck.

Welcome to Ray’s life! All he wanted was to play violin. His grandmother gave him the biggest gift he could wish for: his great grandfather’s “fiddle” that happened to be a Strad! The family who couldn’t stand him playing violin and calling it noise suddenly want to sue him for money like he wasn’t nice enough to offer them majority of everything he earned. The family of slave master who gave the violin to his great grandfather started to stalk him with dollar signs in their eyes and racism in their blood. They eventually sued him too. But these were least of Ray’s problems, because now that Strad was stolen.

The story gives sufficient amount of examples of racism in the US: touches upon slavery and things black people had to go through, bigotry in these days starting from being randomly stopped, cuffed, kept overnight at police stations, and many many more. But it also shows level of discrimination a black person can face in music industry. Like he wasn’t being traumatized enough, Ray could not do one thing he loved to do without having to prove himself over and over again. I liked how this book looked at racism from specific industry perspective while remaining us the real good pieces of music!

Advertised as literary fiction and mystery thriller, The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb is his debut novel. While obviously based in his own experience, this is a gentle crime ode to musicians and their teachers. A long-forgotten violin in his grandmother’s attic is given to Ray McMillian, a black youth. Forgoing his family’s expectation to be a retail worker, he instead is discovered and develops into a concert soloist. His life is difficult enough, with constant financial demands from his family, a litigation over the disputed ownership of the violin and then his violin is stolen. Whilst it has enjoyable narrative and characters, it is lite on tension and so makes for a three-star rating. With thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without fear or favour.

I grew up playing musical instruments in the band, so when this book came around and involved a mystery and music? I was sold!

The mystery portion is who stole his violin, a Stradivarius that was given to him by his grandmother because it was the fiddle that her grandfather played when he was a slave in the 1800s. However, no one knew how valuable it would become until Ray has it cleaned up and the store owner has an inkling and suggests an appraisal. Ray becomes quite famous because of this violin and the violin becomes part of him, almost like another appendage. I can't blame him for not letting it out of his sight considering the worth of the item! I did figure out who stole the violin, or at least suspected this character because nothing else reasoned out. I do have to say that Ray made some unwise decisions but I understood the passion he felt for finding his violin. It was one of these decisions that led to the recovery of the violin, but you'll have to read the book to find out how and why.

While there is a mystery, this book is more of a retelling of the author's life. Black classical musicians aren't common and he fought a lot of racism honing his craft and showing the world that the music he could create was on par with any other musician out there. My heart broke for him, and any other person that is faced with discrimination and racism while improving their life. I thought the way that the character (and possibly the author) handled overt racism from those he met was right on target. I loved how he drew in those kids that were like him, possibly playing on a school instrument that may not be the best but was all that was available. Talent will outshine whatever means are available and it just takes the right person to recognize it.

Ray's family disgusted me. They didn't seem to care about him at all and his mother saw him as another paycheck, one to obtain the items she wanted versus what was best for Ray. I couldn't believe she wanted him to drop out of high school, get his GED, and then find a job to give her money. Thankfully, he doesn't go that route after being noticed by a professor from a college and helping him further his dreams of being a musician. His family also was out for just the money especially when they found out how valuable the violin was and declared that it was theirs and not Ray's even though their mother, Ray's grandmother, gave it to him in front of everyone. No one seemed to care about it when they thought it was just a fiddle. Just goes to show how money brings out the worst in everyone.

While I love classical music and played musical instruments, none were string instruments so some of the terminologies were lost on me, but I could imagine Ray playing his violin in front of audiences and the emotions that the music evoked in him and those listening. The descriptions of some of the pieces brought back fond memories and I will definitely think differently next time I am listening to classical music.

This book is more than a mystery, it is one man's life and the achievements that were possible because he had passion. We give it 5 paws up.

I love inventive plots, and the violin conspiracy was certainly that! As an added bonus, it gives a picture of what it is to be a musician, and a top tier musician at that. I thoroughly enjoyed living in that world through these pages. As a side note, as a Fort Worth resident, Van Cliburn was a local hero here all his life, and I enjoyed the references to him when our main character was competing in Moscow at the Tchaikovsky Festival.

I want to state right at the beginning that this book has many incidents where the main character, Ray, who is a black musician, faces racism in his rise to the top. When I read some of the more egregious incidents I thought, surely this is exaggerated a little. But at the end of the book in the author's notes, Mr. Slocumb states that some of the worst episodes were events he actually experienced! Terrible! The book definitely throws a strong light on the hardships faced by musicians of color, and the fact that they aren't very represented in numbers in professional orchestras.

But back to the story. Ray loves the violin and has received little support from his family. Only his Grandma encourages him, and she gives him his great great great Grandfather's violin, which has been languishing in the attic. His family is totally uninterested until it turns out the violin is worth a lot of money. Then the real trouble begins. When the violin is stolen, there is a long list of possible suspects. Ray has to deal with preparing to compete in the world's most important musical competition, while trying to find his stolen violin.

I found this a fast and fun read, and it exposed me to something I hadn't thought much about, the hardships faced by minority musicians. I briefly played the violin in elementary school. I wasn't very good, and dropped it eventually, but I remember participating in a city-wide concert and playing with hundreds of other musicians. I remember how grand even our simplistic songs sounded, and the thrill it gave me as our bows moved in unison. Mr. Slocumb manages to capture some of this magic in his descriptions of Ray's love of music.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Brendan Slocumb, and Vintage Anchor Books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. I rate this a very strong 4 stars.

A surprisingly suspenseful novel about a violin but more importantly about being black and playing classical music. Ray has succeeded beyond the expectations of many as a violinist and just as he's about to perform at an important competition, his violin is stolen and ransomed. The violin, a Stradivarius, belonged to his grandfather- or did it? The Marks, who enslaved Ray's family, claim the the instrument was stolen from them generations earlier. Ray's relatives are also suspects because they know the monetary but its the psychic value. Ray's ascent through the musical community is told in flashback as he searches and it is here that the narrative illuminates and instructs. Slocomb, a musician himself, shines in his descriptions of the music. I might have guessed who took the violin but that didn't matter- this was an excellent read, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Put this on your list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday publishing group for a gifted copy.

This debut author wrote a winner from the start. It is quite a page turner about a Black musician who inherits a musical instrument from his grandmother, who in turn inherited it from her grandfather who was a freed slave.

The world of music with intrigue takes us from North Carolina to Chicago to Moscow. Though I could figure out early who masterminded the theft of the musical instrument, it was a journey to follow Ray McMillian through the dual timelines - the past and the present.

With a violin that was rented from his school and no formal training, Rayquan (Ray) McMillian showed a natural ability and a love of music that would take him all the way to the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. While he faced bullying and discrimination in school, his first experience playing at an event as a Black violinist showed him how racist and brutal some people can be. Pushed by his mother to leave school and get a job, a guardian angel enters his life when he enters the auditions for the North Carolina Regional Orchestra. Dr. Janice Stevens is a music professor at Markham University who recognizes his potential, offers him a full scholarship and becomes his mentor. His biggest supporter in his family is his Grandma Nora, whose grandfather was a slave. For Christmas she gives Ray the fiddle that her grandfather played for his owner. It is in rough shape, but when Dr. Stevens arranges for it to be restored, they discover that it is a Stradivarius.

Brendan Slocumb begins Ray’s story as the Moscow competition is approaching. Ray’s Stradivarius has become a part of him, but weeks before leaving for Russia it is stolen. Ray is being sued by the present members of the family that originally owned the violin when his ancestor was their slave. He is also being sued by his family, who believe that the violin should be sold with the proceeds being divided among them. As the FBI and an insurance investigator search for the violin, Ray is supported by his girlfriend Nicole, who is also a musician and understands his loss. Through it all is the voice of Grandma Nora, who taught Ray to face what life threw at him, stand tall and always show respect.

Slocumb draws on his own experience as a Black violinist who has faced those same challenges as Ray. His writing evokes the power of music. As Ray performs, Slocumb transforms the musical notes into images of beautiful landscapes and scenes that allow you to lose yourself in Ray’s performance. The resolution of Ray’s legal problems and the surprising twist that reveals the fate of the Stradivarius leaves you with a satisfying ending. This is a beautiful story that will stay with you long after the last page and is very highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday/Anchor Books for providing this for my review.

This is a story about a violin prodigy and the Stradivarius that he inherits.
It tells the tale of how he came to love music, and ultimately the violin. It is also the story of family, this particular family being the descendants of slaves, and the conflicting personalities of that family.
And it is a bit about racism, bigotry and cultural misconceptions that are still present in our society. And it is about thievery and the efforts some individuals will go to in order to get what they want.
A great, enlightening novel.

Ray McMillian loves to play violin. While his mother preferred that he leave his high school in Charlotte, North Carolina early, get his GED, work at the local Popeyes and contribute to the family, Ray stayed true to his belief that he was destined to become a professional violinist. With some very supportive people behind him, Ray was able to develop his talent. This was not without facing horrendous prejudice. How could a Black man have the ability to play classical music? His loving Grandma Nora gave Ray the greatest gift. In addition to her belief in him, she gave Ray her father’s fiddle, an instrument he played as a slave. His former master Thomas Marks gifted it to him when he was given his freedom.

Early on in this riveting book, we learn in the present day timeline that this old, beat up instrument is actually a rare and very valuable Stradivarius. As Ray is preparing to compete in Moscow at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, his violin is stolen with a $5 million ransom demanded for its return. To complicate matters, the Marks family is claiming ownership of the violin.

In an impressive debut, author Brendan Slocumb has created a moving story that is part coming-of-age and part mystery. Drawing from his own background as a professional violinist and music instructor, we are treated to a story that is thoroughly engaging. Ray is truly a character to root for. While faced with continued obstacles, there’s a sense that nothing is going to stop this talented and driven young man. The ongoing incidents of racism reveal a shameful reality which is magnified by a profession where musicians of color are severely underrepresented. The writing is lyrical, the story is wonderful.

4.25 stars.

For a few moments, long ago, I played a Stradivarius. It was an experience that can never be forgotten. It was if the instrument had a soul of its own that yearned to take my fingers and perfect them, to meld with my spirit and lift it to a higher level. However, I don't think you have to have held a Strad or even be a violinist to understood Ray's fixation and overwhelming love for his instrument. Slocumb paints such a beautiful portrait of Ray's musicality, sensitivity, and struggles that everyone reading this book will understand his anguish at its absence.

Setting aside the love between performer and instrument, this is also a vivid tale of prejudice, callousness, and greed. Which causes the most suffering is, in the end, hard to say; but the evil's combine for intertwining conflicts that leave us suspicious of almost everyone before the story ends.

This is a marvelous tale, a strong 4.5 stars. As I often state, I am a prude, and the intense and frequent language stopped me from a full 5 star rating. However, "f" words notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and will recommend it to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Anchor for making a copy of this title available for an honest review.

I could not put this book down! This is one of those books I couldn't read fast enough because I needed to know what was going to happen.

The story centers on a black violinist and his instrument. As the story progresses, it is revealed that the violin he's been playing is worth quite a lot of money. And with that, different people start to lay claim to this instrument. This is then a story about a violinist on so many levels - It's about the racism and systemic issues he encounters, it's about greed, and it's about the beautiful music he's trying to make.

A key message to take away from this book is to be yourself. In Ray's case, it was important to him that he stood up for who he is, and to not be afraid to do what he loves. This will certainly land with readers, especially those who want to be like Ray.

Ray has always loved playing the violin, even when he only had access to a school rental and was discouraged from practicing at home because his mother didn't like "that noise." He dreams of becoming a professional musician, but his black skin doesn't mix well with the world of classical music, so he faces even more roadblocks than most. Because he is the only one in the family who cares about music, his grandmother gives him her grandfather's fiddle, which needs a lot of TLC. The restorer suspects – and an appraiser verifies – that the fiddle is actually a Stradivarius violin worth millions of dollars. Several people now claim that the violin is theirs, but Ray won't surrender it to anyone. Just before the international Tchaikovsky Competition, the classic music equivalent of the Olympic games, Ray's violin is stolen and he must divide his time between searching for the violin and practicing for the competition.

This is the author's first book, and I enjoyed it much more than expected. Readers can't help but rooting for Ray as he makes his way through family obstacles, financial difficulties, racist classmates and teachers in high school and in college, and more. I liked his determination to stick to his dream, in spite of all these problems, and nearly cheered aloud when he finally found someone to champion his cause. It was a joy to revisit world of classical music, although some of the music references went way over my head, but perhaps that is due to my piano background instead of the violin.

I was irritated by the attitudes of many of the characters in the book, especially Ray's family. Their lack of support and pressure to take his life in a different direction was astounding. The multitude of racist behaviors in the book was appalling, and I admired Ray's demeanor while dealing with these, and his determination to put them behind him. Being originally from Erie, PA, I smiled when a character from Erie was introduced and at the references to places and things that are familiar to me. There were several characters suspects of stealing the violin, and I kept changing my mind about who was responsible. I did ultimately identify the thief before it was revealed in the book, though, something that rarely happens when I read a mystery. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

I absolutely adored this book! The story, the characters and the passion. This book is a tribute to diligence, knowing what's right, and filled with the love of the art along with talent. I could not put this book down, and I hope you read it. The ending is awesome and came out of nowhere., a total surprise. Thank you #NetGalley#TheViolinConspiracy#AnchorBooks