Music scholar Bern Hendricks is thrilled to be selected to transcribe his favorite composer's newly discovered missing operatic piece, "Red." But as he delves more deeply into the life and work of Frederick Delaney through access provided by the Delaney Foundation, he stumbles upon a mystery. Could it be that Delaney had a black mistress in the 1920's? Who is this mysterious woman who shows up in only a few grainy photographs and what was her relationship to "Freddy" Delaney? Pushing for more information from the Delaney Foundation only brings danger and threats to Bern and his cyber security expert girlfriend, Eboni Washington. Discovering the identity of the mysterious "JoR" signature on each piece of music destroys Bern's worship of Delaney and his works and puts both himself and Eboni in a life or death situation. Will they destroy their lives and careers to tell the world the truth about Delaney's music or do they let the 100 year old mystery remain unsolved and thus rob a family of the heritage they so richly deserve? Readers without a musical background may get a bit lost in the technical music terminology, but those willing to forge on through will find well defined characters in a rich and satisfying story of righting a wrong that happened over one hundred years ago.

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

Bern is a UVA professor who is...in a word...obsessed with composer Frédéric Delaney. One day his wildest dream comes true when a seemingly lost piece of music of Delaney's is found, and he is tasked to transcribe it. But what he finds extends far beyond the music into realities he never thought possible...

It is no secret that the Violin Conspiracy was one of my favorites of 2022 and this 2nd book from the same author did not disappoint! It was absolutely fascinating and explores the erasure of women and African Americans/Black Americans in music (check out Rhiannon Giddens' scholarship for more on that also!). I completely and totally believe the trajectory of "Freddy" as Slocumb wrote it. Really my only advice is to NOT read the book jacket description. I think it gives away too much of the plot, so instead of slowly discovering it myself I was kind of waiting for "the discovery" to happen if that makes sense. Either way another 5 star from me!

Thanks to @netgalley and @vintageanchorbooks for the ARC. Symphony of Secrets comes out April 18, 2023!

Such an engaging & entertaining read! Expertly told & plotted. Both storylines were equally compelling. Could not put it down!
Especially enjoyed the author's poignant note.

With great thanks to NetGalley & Knopf Doubleday for this e-ARC!

Brendan Slocumb has another winner on his hands with Symphony of Secrets, and is establishing himself as a standard for Black music mystery. This story is a dual timeline, with a historical storyline set in the early twentieth century about a young Black woman named Josephine Reed with a unique talent for hearing music in any sound and transcribing it in her own unique code into beautiful, catchy music. She’s also neurodivergent, uncomfortable in social situations. When Frederic Delaney crosses paths with her after struggling with his own musical performances, he quickly sees a gold mine. At first it is a partnership that works well for both of them, until success, greed and power consume Frederic and their relationship takes an insidious turn.

Decades later Dr. Bern Hendricks is brought in by the Delaney Foundation to transcribe RED, the real RED, an opera piece part of an Olympia series that was originally performed with what was thought to be a rewritten opera when the original was lost. Bern recruits his friend Eboni, a brilliant computer scientist, to help him with the transcription and the famous and elusive doodles found on Delaney’s compositions. Their work leads them down an unexpected path, and one members of the powerful Delaney Foundation family and board are uncomfortable with being public knowledge, turning their lives into a nightmare.

Like The Violin Conspiracy, both storylines in this book are a slow build, where things start out on a positive note, before the reader sees the elements of race and power change the dynamics into a fight for recognition and respect for his protagonists; a brilliant examination of how insidious and destructive racism and power dynamics can be. For the mild mannered Bern, determined to be accepted, Slocumb provides a delightful contrast in Eboni, a straight shooter who sees things for how they are and not how she wants them to be, with backup plans to her contingency plans for when someone inevitably tries to screw her over. The dynamics between Frederic and Josephine are fascinating too - how little Josephine is changed by the circumstances of Frederic’s success, and how much it changes him. For all that the reader can see how Josephine is neurodivergent from her introduction, it is Frederic’s mental health that becomes terrifying.

There is definitely no sophomore slump with Slocumb’s second novel. I loved this story and I can’t wait to read what he writes next. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

We shared this book at our recent live Spring Book Preview event held for the Modern Mrs Darcy and What Should I Read Next communities, where 1200 readers joined us live, and twice that many watched the video replay in the follow week. The PDF from the event is linked below. Long story short: Expectations were high after The Violin Conspiracy, but Brendan delivered with his sophomore musical thriller!

Excellent follow-up novel. I would recommend reading the first, only so you don’t miss out on another wonderful tale. The research required for this novel is obvious as the author weaves the past with the present to create a literary gem.

I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher.







This is the second novel by author Brendan Slocumb, who is the author of The Violin Conspiracy. This novel moves back and forth between past and present and I thought the dual timelines flowed seamlessly. As with his first self-described "musical thriller", I found his second novel to be very suspenseful, keeping me on edge and not wanting to stop reading until I found out what happened. Both timelines provided me with characters to root for and champion their successes, and villians to root against. As a reader, we are exposed to racism in both timelines, and it was heartbreaking to read about in both storylines.

I loved the descriptions of how Josephine experienced the world and her ways of describing her surroundings with music, as well as her unique names for things, such as the "white torrents". Her story was at times beautiful and at other times heartbreaking. I found myself wishing that the music in the novel was real so that I could experience what Josephine was writing about.

Greed and power play a role in both timelines. I would like to say more here but I don't want to provide any spoilers. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading future novels by this author.

This review is also posted on Goodreads.

I loved Brendan Slocumb's last novel, the Violin Conspiracy, and was really looking forward to his next book. This did not disappoint! Beautiful writing, compelling characters, and some really interesting historical color. Warning: this is one of those books where the summary in the promotional material gives away something the characters themselves don't realize until at least 1/3 in. It didn't really diminish my enjoyment of the book too much, but that always bugs me.