Did you know there is a connection between Mozart and Chess?

You’ll have to read this novel about a proficient chess player and a classical pianist to see how the author has married together their love and loyalty with a mystery surrounding a famous composer.

Pitched as ‘Downton Abbey meets The Imitation Game,’ The Mozart Code is a marriage of convenience story between Lady Sophia Huntington Villiers and Simon Barrington. While not a sequel to The London Restoration, it’s a companion piece that highlights two characters; Sophie, who is Diana’s friend from Bletchley Park, and Simon, a MI 6 agent with a covert team in Vienna who are charged with exposing a lethal double agent, code named Eternity.

It’s also a story of restitution as it’s about many artifacts misplaced during Hitler’s occupation that are now being returned to their rightful owners. One of these priceless artifacts is Mozart’s death mask. Sophie is in Vienna under the assumed name of Starling to source out Mozart’s death mask.

Furthermore, it’s a mystery partly centered around Mozart’s life, his works and the mythical death mask and partly centered around Das Flustern, a chess game, and the Eternity spy ring. Add to this the mystery Simon faces as he tries to uncover what’s real and what’s not in his world and his love life.

One could also argue that it’s a HEA story about how Sophie and Simon risk it all for love. It’s definitely an atmospheric, slow-burn romance that allows readers to fall in love, not only with a vulnerable heroine and a patient gentleman but also with the cities of Vienna and Prague.

The many threads of this story are seamlessly brought together under the masterful hand of Rachel McMillan. A new-to-me author, I’m impressed with the level of research and the ability to work with so many different threads within one book.

I was gifted this advance copy by Rachel McMillan, Thomas Nelson, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I almost DNF here. And at 360+ pages it felt endless. It’s a multiple genre story (spy/mystery/romance/historical fiction) set in Vienna/Prague in post WWII.

There is A LOT of detail, a confusing amount of lackluster characters and not much action. The writing felt choppy with abrupt, unexplained jumps in the narrative. The characters did not react to situations in logical, expected ways. And the leads were from privileged (unrelatable) backgrounds with little to no charisma.

May be in the minority here, but unfortunately I feel like my time was wasted.

My thanks to #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson for providing me the free early arc of #TheMozartCode for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Rachel McMillan delivers another delightful historical fiction novel with “The Mozart Code.”

Picking up shortly after her novel “The London Restoration,” McMillan’s latest offering picks up with the stories of former Bletchley workers Simon Barre and Sophie Villiers, both now working as operatives in Vienna after World War II.

Simon is chasing after an elusive group called Eternity, looking to spread Communist ideologies. Sophie is hunting down antiquities that were lost during the war. But when their two operations come together, they must learn to work together, all while keeping their own secret.

Deeply historical and incredibly researched, “The Mozart Code” is a book full of suspense, action and romance. McMillan develops great characters that show strength and courage, as well as flaws and insecurities. She even offers a visit with the Somervilles, favorites from “The London Restoration.”

She also fills the story with some great themes, like identity; forgiveness; trust; loyalty; and you are not a mistake but are worthwhile.

“The Mozart Code,” due out March 15, is a love story to Vienna, Mozart, antiquities and classical music. Fans of historical fiction, war and espionage stories, romantic thrillers, European history, and classical music will love this book.

Five stars out of five.

Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

Sophia and Simon are caught up in the traitorous world of espionage and the black market in post-war Vienna. Simon is trying to break through a spy ring called Eternity while Sophie finds antiquities and art stolen by the Nazi’s. When Sophie is tasked with finding the elusive death mask of Mozart, they find out just how entertained and dangerous their two worlds are.

While the plot and premise of this book were interesting, I did find there were some issues with the connecting threads of the story. Maybe there wasn’t enough backstory on some of the secondary characters, it just seemed to me there were holes in how it should be fitting together. I was still able to follow along but it just wasn’t as smooth a read as I felt it should be.

The period around World War Two is always one of my favorite historical fiction eras to read about. As someone who also loves stories of espionage and mysteries surrounding history, I was really expecting to love this one. Unfortunately, that ended up not being the case. I ended up feeling like I'd read a different book than the majority of the other reviewers, and this one definitely was not for me.

While I greatly appreciate the insane amount of research that Rachel McMillan put into The Mozart Code, I ended up finding it hard to follow, and incredibly boring. The characters were extremely lackluster, and made really immature decisions, and they failed to ever illicit any kind of response from me. A lot of the story seemed to get bogged down by historical details that were hard to muddle through, and the important pieces seemed to be skimmed over quickly, and left me feeling like I'd missed big plot pieces that were never really explained.

I had already figured out the big plot reveals earlier on in the story, and yet, since I failed to really distinguish most of the secondary characters from one another, it didn't really have the effect on me that it was intended to. There's a lot of tragic events that happen throughout the story, especially in the later half of it, and yet it felt like nothing was portrayed realistically, and the characters reactions to everything were just plain weird.

I got to about the ten percent mark of this one and was already tempted to dnf it, but kept pushing through cause I was certain I would end up enjoying it at some point. Unfortunately, that point never came, and I've just had to accept the fact that this book was not for me. I never connected with the characters or the story, and didn't find anything written in a way that interested me. A lot of the story seemed jumbled together, and by about the halfway point I was resorting to skimming (which I honestly never do), just to try and finish it.

Final Rating: 2/5.

I don't personally recommend this one, but if you're a fan of cleanish historical fiction it may be one that you'd enjoy.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this title!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After spending World War II working at Bletchley Park helping the war effort, Lady Sophia Hungtington Villiers refuses to fulfill her family’s expectations to settle down and marry well. Instead, she joins Simon Barre’s team in Vienna, where the Allies each want to make the city over in their image.

Churchill warns of an iron curtain falling between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world, and Simon Barre and his team want to stop it. Using her extensive knowledge of art and music to act as a go-between allows Sophie to meet power players and see first-hand how they pass information. Her contacts know her as Starling, and she soon makes a name for herself helping people find things lost or stolen during the war.

When multiple contacts suddenly inquire about Mozart’s death mask, Sophie wonders why. And when someone starts attacking team members, Sophie thinks the request may turn out more deadly than she ever expected.

Simon Barrington, the illegitimate heir to a title and a fine country estate, has no experience with love, but a lifetime of experience with intrigue. His mother’s affair leads to his birth. From the time he could talk, he and his mother had to form ways to communicate without her husband knowing. To express love would be to break the deal she made with her husband. A deal whereby he claims Simon as his son and includes him in his will but disparages him at every opportunity.

Chess becomes a secret love language between Simon and his mother. When the war comes along, Simon is recruited to work at Bletchley Park. His chess genius helps him fight the war in a way many don’t understand. After the war, he accepts a new assignment. This time as a political player by the name of Simon Barre operating in Vienna and fighting the threat of communism.

Friends since adulthood, Sophie and Simon work well together. But what no one knows has the power to put their lives in danger—they entered a marriage of convenience to save Simon’s inheritance.

When Sophie goes to Prague, Simon feels the house of cards collapsing. Will he reach her in time? Or will the iron curtain crush her?

What I Loved About this Book

As in any good spy novel, Sophie and Simon’s story starts slowly as the author builds their world—post-war Vienna and Prague. Readers will relate to Sophie’s quest for independence in a world that wants to relegate women to their pre-war roles. As the level of danger and intrigue builds, so do the characters' feelings for each other.

In this unlikely love story, one character has sworn off love and the other has never seen it modeled. But both believe in the sanctity of their wedding vows.

I love that author Rachel McMillan has chosen a fresh era -- 1947 in Vienna and Prague -- to set THE MOZART CODE, a welcome break from the continuing onslaught of WWII novels.

And what a story: spies, music, relics (Mozart's death mask), and a burgeoning romance at its heart. I adored English spies Simon Barre and Lady Sophie Huntington Villiers, and found their growing relationship kept me pinned to the very last page while post-war intrigues swirled 'round them. Highly recommended for historical fiction fans who dig thrillers and thrilling romance. Out March 15.

Thanks to Rachel, Thomas Nelson, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#themozartcode #rachelmcmillan #thomasnelson #netgalley

Fans of Cold War era spy fiction will be sure to enjoy this latest book by Rachel McMillan. Set in Vienna and Prague during the intriguing historical period following World War Two, against a rich architectural backdrop from old churches to palaces. The author paints a vivid picture of the political scene and powers tugging at control over Eastern Europe, with the main characters in a race to unravel clues leading to the truth they both seek.

The writing is well done, with a complex plot and romantic tension that sizzles between the main characters, Simon and Sophia. Their backstory is inserted in parts to give a better picture of the struggles they share in their individual searches for identity, purpose and the need to continue in the spy game, despite its dangers. Increasing peril and action kept the story moving along. References to music, classical composers and their works, were woven into the tale, reminding me of the movie Amadeus. The setting and feel of the story also had me thinking of film noir movies like The Third Man. Some adult moments were discretely added behind closed doors, but appropriate given the situation. Social drinking and smoking add a realistic feel of the era. More of a clean read, with mainly historical references to faith. The author's notes were interesting and helped clarify a lot of points.

An intriguing historical fiction story with a complex plot, some peril, and romantic tension. There's some carry over of characters from a previous book, The London Restoration, but it easily reads as a stand alone.

I didn't love Rachel McMillan's The Mozart Code. Unfortunately, for me the plot felt very paint by numbers and reminded me strongly of The London Restoration, just reset and with some details jiggered around. If I hadn't read earlier McMillan books, I might have liked this more. However. the spy/historical novel genre sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and I feel like McMillan undercommitted in areas like character development that would have brought this to life.

I loved McMillan's "Three-Quarter Time" series, "The London Restoration," and (for a totally different genre :D) "A Very Merry Holiday Movie Guide," so was really excited to pick up this release. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into it, so stopped at about 20%. I just didn't find the plot moving forward or a lot happening by that point, nor did I feel particularly invested in the characters.

Fans of McMillan's Van Buren and DeLuca series will likely enjoy this one; it has a very similar feel.

I may try again in future for another go. We'll see! I'm certainly up for reading more; I've had such good experiences with her other reads, especially those noted above.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Part spy novel, more love story, The Mozart Code is predominantly set in Vienna and Prague in 1947. The Cold War is gearing up and Vienna is split into quadrants as the French, British, American, and Soviet fight for control while promising restoration of the city's architecture and culture. Simon (Barrington) Barre is in Vienna, working for British intelligence, trying to root out the Communist "Eternity" ring that was introduced in McMillan's "The London Restoration". Lady Sophia (Sophie) Huntington Villiers was Simon's neighbor growing up, and they worked together at Bletchley Park during the war. An avid pianist and musician, she is in Vienna assisting Simon some of the time, but more intent on finding relics and returning them to their rightful owners. Some parts of the story seemed a bit "glossed over" to the point of being a bit confusing, but the focus is Simon and Sophie's evolving relationship, and that aspect of the book is what makes it hard to put down!

It was good to know more of the story of Sophie and Simon, but it took me a minute to get into it. And then there's torture, which although it is only in a small part of the book, is described in too much detail for my senses! Yes, I do realize that these things happen in the world, but I guess when I read a book, I like to escape reality for a while... I did enjoy the historical part of the book! It is very interesting!!
Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advance e-copy. The opinions, obviously, are entirely my own.

The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan

4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set predominantly in post WWll Vienna and Prague, this richly and meticulously researched story will not fail to bring the story to life around you with the authors attention to detail giving you a heightened awareness of the descriptive settings.

A story about a passion and espionage, this book has so many ingredients to sink your teeth into and offers so much. Its written in an intelligent style almost highbrow....which did occasionally trip me up and made it occasionally quite a push to get through, especially at the beginning part, but the storyline and settings were so opulent it was impossible not to enjoy it.

Tbh the cover and title had me at hello!!

Thanks to #netgalley
and @thomasnelson fiction for the ACR of this Novel

#bookreview #themozartcode #mozart #spybooks #wwll #bookstagram #booklove #bookreviewersofinstagram #friendsofbooks #bookpost #nextbook #historicalfiction

**4.5/5 stars**

I went back and forth regarding rating The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan. Four or five stars? For or five stars? I finally settled on a happy medium—4.5. Outside of novels by Kate Quinn and Kristin Hannah, historical fiction isn’t typically my genre of choice. I can’t identify why, exactly. But intertwining fiction with nonfiction challenges even the best authors, because in some ways, the genre resembles fantasy. You have to transport readers into a world that few have actually experienced. I grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s. I have traveled to Europe, but only to Spain. What I know of Prague and Vienna comes from books, documentaries, and pictures.

McMillan excelled. When reading The Mozart Code, I wasn’t lying in bed, riding in a vehicle, or sitting in the kitchen with my breakfast. She teleported me post-WWII Europe and tugged me into her tale from the very beginning. Classical music, combined with espionage? You have me wrapped around your finger, and I’ll follow you anywhere. With glee. The Mozart Code had believable threats, challenges, and figurative battles that the characters had to face together and apart. McMillan poured warmth into Simon and Sophie’s story—their individually difficult circumstances, and how those hurdles pulled them together. Imperfect characters who fit together perfectly…that’s my kind of story!

They had their disagreements, just like any relationship. Both independent and brilliant. Both passionate, yet both also flawed. I also loved some of the minor characters, and I wish I could know more of Diana’s story! I would say, "Give me a book about her, Rachel McMillan!" Upon research, I discovered she DOES have a book, which is now added to my TBR pile. Please and thank you. So many authors I read fail to develop the supporting characters as much as the main ones. That takes away from the story—but not with The Mozart Code. I could tell McMillan loved her characters like they were real people, and she’d spent time with them to learn their histories. If you’ve read my past reviews, you’ve probably figured out by now that characters are vitally important to me. McMillan did not disappoint.

But why the 4.5 stars instead of 5? With historical fiction and fantasy, sometimes writers can get…distracted. They focus on the trees rather than the forest. A lot of times, this is fine. I had some trouble with The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan. The first part of the book was very slow moving, and I kept putting the novel down. I waited for something to happen. Once the plot started rolling, it rolled with momentum, and I couldn’t put it down. Maybe because I read the novel with outside distractions, I got lost sometimes.

But I still loved this novel, to the point of calling it one of my two favorites of the year when I finished it. And that’s saying a lot, as The Mozart Code was book number 28 of 2022 for me. If you like Kate Quinn and Kristin Hannah as much as I do, read this book. McMillan earned herself a new fan with The Mozart Code, and I can’t wait to return to her work in the future…probably the very near future.

I was so excited to read this book that I've been hearing so much about for the past couple of years. After reading The London Restoration I was thrilled to return to the same era and revisit some of the characters. This is a standalone novel set right after World War II and into the Cold War.

McMillan has such a fantastic sense of place with her stories, I was swept away and felt immersed in Vienna, Prague, and the post-war landscape. The plot is extremely exciting and gripping, and there's enough romance to appeal to readers of any genre. The story is more deliberate than I was expecting, but it was still engrossing and kept me interested.

It is obvious that the author does research and knows the detail of what she is writing about. I just finished another book before this one (it was a contemporary thriller, but still) and that one had multiple unanswered questions and loose ends. I feel like The Mozart Code is such a complete and fascinating tale in contrast.

This was the perfect book for me to read during a long rainy weekend. I felt transported to another time and place and feel refreshed because of it.

First of all, this was truly a grand saga, an extraordinary tale, taken from history but it is also a deathly serious story.
I would advise you to begin the book slowly and read thoroughly, taking in all the details as you get into the book.
Pay attention to the dates at the the beginning of chapters, as the story moves back and forth through time. This is something I learned late and had to go back and reread.

The characters Sophie and Simon are complicated but they are also magic together and obviously to readers a perfect match.
Sophie, incredibly independent, shows her love through actions and her world through music. But Simon is a bit more transparent as he sees life a moves on a chess board.

It is an engrossing tale full of love, pain, sacrifice, relics, piano music,
murder, chess grandeur and a mask. And it is also a love affair with the cities of Vienna and Prague - and a roving discourse on how they dealt with life at the beginning of the Cold War and the end of WW2.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction!

Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read this book. The opinions are entirely my own.

Another fabulous Vienna book full of history, intrigue, music, love, and most of all sacrifice.

McMillan instantly transports you to post WWII Vienna and you can feel the desperation and turmoil. The setting as always was amazing.

I fell in love with Simon and Sophie. Their relationship is very unconventional, but still wonderful. I especially loved the flashbacks to before the war.

The espionage in this book was incredibly intriguing. I am always so impressed with codes and finding hidden messages and artifacts.

This book is slower paced (in my opinion) so it probably isn't one I would reread, but I did enjoy it.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This was another enjoyable read from Rachel McMillan. I’ll admit that her writing style takes some getting used to, I can’t pinpoint exactly why that is, but I noticed it with her Herringford and Watts series as well.

This story centers around Sophie and Simon, who worked at Bletchley Park during WWII and are now being drawn into the beginning of the Cold War. Now they’re working in Vienna, where you have secrets, chess, and art that all seems to have a different meaning in their world of espionage. You also have the marriage of conscience troupe, but in this book it’s spun on its head a bit and is a little different than what you expect.

Sophie and Simon are both great characters and they have layers that are carefully revealed throughout the book and as they become closer. There were some interesting plot twists and while the pacing of this story is a bit slow, it’s a satisfying read. I do think their story is told nicely in this book and the plot is contained to this book although I do think reading the first book would be beneficial to the overall backstory of this world Rachel McMillan has meticulously researched.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book really really.... confused me. From the beginning I felt completely lost, as if several sentences or pages has been taken out of the book (and that was the case all along). The author dove directly into the intrigue without properly introducing any of the secondary characters, the political background, the Eternity ring... This might be due to the fact that this book is part of a series, but still, I wish we'd had more information from the beginning. Even at the end of the book, I still haven't understood the intrigue, that's the first time it happened to me... normally I would have given up! However, the romance made me want to keep reading. I especially liked reading the scenes from when they were younger. I enjoyed the tension and the chemistry between Simon and Sophie, although many of their conversations also puzzled me. I felt as if several sentences were always missing, as they were skipping from one topic to the next and not always replying to each other. None of the conversation felt real-life-like. [Spoiler : even the torture scene and resulting injuries was barely mentioned by any of them!! That's unbelievable.]

Unfortunately, this book wasn't a good introduction to the time and places in which this book is set. I don't feel I've gained any historical knowledge from reading it. I didn't understand the political tensions in Vienna and Prague at all., nor really the role the Mozart mask had to do with any of it. The German words didn't help either.

2.5 stars

*I received a complimentary e-copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own*

I’ve been waiting awhile for this book. Simon and Sophie’s relationship in the last book intrigued me and I wanted to know more especially since this was a marriage of convenience story.
But as I opened the pages I was bogged down but the excessive amount of details about the political climate, the city, and just the general surroundings of the characters. It felt like getting plucked down in the middle of a story and having someone give you updates about things you knew nothing about. The author clearly did extensive research and it seemed like she was trying to include everything she’d learned instead of just the pertinent details. She also really liked to use big words, which overall I don’t have a problem with but it reached a point of being too much.
I hung on until the characters actually shared a scene together, hoping that would redeem it and capture my attention. But they had a very weird dynamic and still lived separately despite already being married and it didn’t make me want to know more.
Maybe things got better and more engaging as the story went on but I just couldn’t make myself read anymore and set it down.