Music Macabre

I have a particular weakness for historical mysteries with interesting twists (famous authors, composers, historical events, etc., at their center) and while the quality of writing in these is mixed, I generally find them entertaining.

I picked up Music Macabre because it promised to suite my tastes, but I didn't know where it would fall on my acceptable-to-brilliant scale for these sorts of mysteries. It fell somewhere on the top third of that scale: not-great-literature-but-a-very-good-read-indeed. The novelty of the historical setting (in this case the era of Jack the Ripper, shortly after the death of Liszt, paired with a present-day semi-scholarly British cast) was fun, but the book appealed beyond that. The characters were engaging—people I'd be glad to spend more time with if the author offers me the opportunity. As I read, I found the title harder and harder to put down, particularly because of the multiple mysteries at its heart which left me with all sorts of questions and speculation.

If you like historical mysteries, particularly those with a solid blend of fun and fright, you'll want to read this title.

Music Macabre is a brilliantly written historical mystery combining fact with fiction. A fantastic addition to the popular Phineas Fox series of books by the equally superb Sarah Rayne who's writing never disappoints. With just the right amount of humour, sauciness, tragedy and terror this book had me gripped. Phin, Toby and Arabella are fast becoming some of my favourite fictional characters.
Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for allowing me to read this advanced copy.