Broken Harmony Charles Patterson Mysteries edition by Roz Southey Romance eBooks
Download As PDF : Broken Harmony Charles Patterson Mysteries edition by Roz Southey Romance eBooks 
In Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1730s, life is not easy for an impoverished musician. For Charles Patterson, violinist, harpsichord player, composer and would-be church organist, it’s about to get a whole lot harder. First he is accused of stealing a valuable book. Then a cherished violin belonging to his flamboyant rival, Henri le Sac, disappears, rapidly followed by le Sac himself. And when the young apprentice he inherited from his rival is gruesomely murdered, Patterson starts to feel out of his depth. Strange goings-on at the home of capricious Lady Anne leave him in fear for his health and sanity, and the lady’s cousin, Esther Jerdoun, seems to be trying to warn him about something. The mystery deepens as the death toll mounts and it becomes clear that things are not quite as they appear …
Broken Harmony Charles Patterson Mysteries edition by Roz Southey Romance eBooks
This is a paranormal historical mystery, but not in the usual sense. Indeed, I spent much of the first half of the book trying to make sense of what was happening just as much as the protagonist Charles Patterson was of the unfolding events around him.The first half of the book is slow, and it is only in the second half you start to feel where the subtleties of the plot are heading, and the pace starts to increase. Because in some ways the story is both obvious and subtle at the same time.
Patterson I found lacking. While I don't want perfect characters, there are limits as to what sort of flaws there should be in a protagonist. Patterson comes close to those limits, and possibly crosses them at times. He realizes that he is being manipulated in a scheme which while benefitting him will hurt someone else, and does little but be depressed. Makes no attempt to even try to come up with a scheme (like finding an urgent need to be out of town for a week or two) of his own. I realize that the storyline needs the manipulations to succeed, but had he made the attempt and been thwarted, instead of just drifting along rationalizing everything, he would have been a bit more likable. That he also, despite so much evidence, denies the who is orchestrating events, is just tiresome and annoying.
I also lacked depth in descriptive detail of the world Patterson inhabited. It never becomes quite real without it. And it is a pity, as I believe that the AU has probably created a very unique and delightful world, if she only would take the time to describe it, so we all could have full pleasure of it. Scenes, clothes, appearances, and anything else one may need to visualize the story.
The writing was for the most part good though at times I felt the flow was uneven. Tie ups and lead ins weren't always obvious and as such could leave the reader in some confusion as to what was going on.
As I said the first half of the book was slow, but in the second half both our hero and events start picking themselves up a bit. As I was midway through I did consider putting the book down being annoyed with Patterson, and finding the plot slow, but I am glad I stuck with it. The actual mystery I found was notso much about the more obvious one, but the less, and it was worth sticking around for the solution. Though the fight in the end left something to be desired (Patterson had to have a weapon?!? A good punch/kick wouldn't do?) So happily the book manages to redeem itself and you end up not regretting the time you spent, and even being curious enough for more.
So I am giving this a 3.5 as I ended enjoying having made the acquaintance of this original world. Worth reading.
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Broken Harmony Charles Patterson Mysteries edition by Roz Southey Romance eBooks Reviews
good read
This is a bit of an oddity, but none the worse for that. It's a mystery set in the 1730s in Newcastle, written by a musicologist, so you can be assured that the occupation of the main characters is going to be convincing. Charles Patterson is a harpsichord player (though he's proficient on other instruments too) who aspires to lead the city's small chamber orchestra, a position he thinks should be his by right. However, Patterson has an arch rival, first violin Henri Le Sac, and it is he who leads - and, as Patterson grudgingly admits, is a virtuoso player, dextrous and showy, to the frequent delight of audiences. Patterson himself, meanwhile, is proficient and an excellent leader, but unexciting. The two men vie for pupils, as well, as teaching provides an important supplementary income, and it only exacerbates their antagonism that each has a friend who is a dancing master. Indeed, if anything, Demsey and Nichols hate each other even more than the two musicians.
The oddity comes with the story's supernatural element. We quickly learn that hauntings are a part of everyday existence - spirits, it seems, usually take a hundred years before they leave the place where death occurred - and I can imagine that some readers will feel uncomfortable with the notion that ghosts, if they can be found, can reveal the identity of their murderers, but there are constraints on the ways this can happen, and anyway, there's something about the 18th-century world which is amenable to the paranormal, perhaps because it gave birth to the gothic. I found that I quickly accepted the spirits almost as part of the period detail - which, not surprisingly, is excellent, since the author's own research area is 18th-century music-making. She evokes Newcastle of the time, a provincial town surrounded by by coalmines, to great effect, persuading me that it's every bit as fascinating as London or Edinburgh.
Charles Patterson is a musician living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 1730's. He has to contend with the local musical celebrity, Henri le Sac, who is somewhat of a prima-donna, willing to squash pretensions to rivalry such as Patterson's. He has to struggle to grow his number of students and keep his upper class clients happy. And he has to deal with other rivalries, such as that between his friend Demsey, a dancing master, and his own rival. The world of the arts is quite cut-throat at times, with Demsey resorting to hiring men to rough up his enemy. Patterson finds himself set up as a rival to Le Sac. A series of events are blamed on him, a missing book of Le Sac's compositions, then Le Sac's prized violin. And Le Sac's patroness, the outlandish Lady Anne, seems to add fire to the flames by playing the musicians off against each other.
This Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is not quite our world's Newcastle. Spirits roam and ghosts speak in this Universe. And Patterson has strangely glimpsed a different reality at times around Lady Anne's mansion.
Eventually, perhaps two-thirds the way through the book, murder is done. And towards the resolution, more action (not just playing in concert) occurs and there is more murder.
It's a very odd combination, the paranormal aspect to the mystery, when I was expecting something more straight-forwardly historical. The historical aspects seemed almost secondary. I never got a strong feel for the time and place. Patterson was somewhat sympathetic, but not all that interesting, and seemed quite petty at the beginning. His thoughts and motivations weren't always clear or understandable, nor were those of several other characters. If one likes their mysteries to be unconventional and quirky, this may appeal. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, myself. Although it was an interesting enough read.
This is a paranormal historical mystery, but not in the usual sense. Indeed, I spent much of the first half of the book trying to make sense of what was happening just as much as the protagonist Charles Patterson was of the unfolding events around him.
The first half of the book is slow, and it is only in the second half you start to feel where the subtleties of the plot are heading, and the pace starts to increase. Because in some ways the story is both obvious and subtle at the same time.
Patterson I found lacking. While I don't want perfect characters, there are limits as to what sort of flaws there should be in a protagonist. Patterson comes close to those limits, and possibly crosses them at times. He realizes that he is being manipulated in a scheme which while benefitting him will hurt someone else, and does little but be depressed. Makes no attempt to even try to come up with a scheme (like finding an urgent need to be out of town for a week or two) of his own. I realize that the storyline needs the manipulations to succeed, but had he made the attempt and been thwarted, instead of just drifting along rationalizing everything, he would have been a bit more likable. That he also, despite so much evidence, denies the who is orchestrating events, is just tiresome and annoying.
I also lacked depth in descriptive detail of the world Patterson inhabited. It never becomes quite real without it. And it is a pity, as I believe that the AU has probably created a very unique and delightful world, if she only would take the time to describe it, so we all could have full pleasure of it. Scenes, clothes, appearances, and anything else one may need to visualize the story.
The writing was for the most part good though at times I felt the flow was uneven. Tie ups and lead ins weren't always obvious and as such could leave the reader in some confusion as to what was going on.
As I said the first half of the book was slow, but in the second half both our hero and events start picking themselves up a bit. As I was midway through I did consider putting the book down being annoyed with Patterson, and finding the plot slow, but I am glad I stuck with it. The actual mystery I found was notso much about the more obvious one, but the less, and it was worth sticking around for the solution. Though the fight in the end left something to be desired (Patterson had to have a weapon?!? A good punch/kick wouldn't do?) So happily the book manages to redeem itself and you end up not regretting the time you spent, and even being curious enough for more.
So I am giving this a 3.5 as I ended enjoying having made the acquaintance of this original world. Worth reading.
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