Customer Reviews

Funeral Music (Sara Selkirk Mysteries)

5 star:		(2)
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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I do enjoy coming across a new British mystery series, and by the looks of things I'm going to derive a lot of fun from reading the next two installments in the Sara Selkirk mystery series scheduled to be released later this year. Well plotted, intriguing and full of beautiful and lush descriptions of modern day Bath, "Funeral Music" was a treat to read from beginning to end.

Suffering from an emotional breakdown that has prevented her from performing for quite a while, world renowned cellist has retreated to her cottage in Bath where she marks time exercising and giving cello lessons to Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Poole. And while her friends have been worried, none of them have met with any success in persuading Sara to perform publicly again. However her good friend, James has had enough, and manages to bully her into performing with him at the Pump Room. Giving in with bad grace, little did Sara expect that this one act would catapult into the middle of a murder investigation when she discovers the body of the Director of Museums and Civic Leisure Resources dead in one of the baths. Because Andrew is in charge of the investigations, Sara finds herself privy to all sorts of information, and when people she likes and care about come under police scrutiny, Sara finds herself reluctantly playing detective. And although she feels strangely invigorated, Sara will have to pay great care that her investigations don't land her on the killer's hit list...

What made "Funeral Music" so much fun to read was not so much the mystery at hand (if you're an avid mystery buff, you can more or less figure out what's going on about half way through the book) as the characters involved. Morag Joss has peopled her novel with characters that are engaging, flawed and sympathetic. Wanting to know what would happen to most of the characters had me glued to the pages till the very end. Another plus factor, "Funeral Music" was that this was an extremely well written book - the language, and the manner in which the book was framed was brilliantly done. And let no one tell you differently, a well written book is almost a rarity these days. So am I looking forward to the next Sara Selkirk mystery novel? Goodness, yes. If nothing else it will be fascinating to see how the author handles the relationship that's brewing between Sara and DCI Andrew Poole.

I found this book at a garage sale, along with her "Fearful Symmetry" ~~ and I picked it up for a few hours of escapism reading. It is a pleasant book and I love English mysteries. This one seems to do the trick on both counts.

This mystery features Sara Selkirk, a renowned cellist on hiatus since her lover's death in Paris the year before. She has lost her desire and passion for music ~~ but she agreed to play for a friend at the local museum one night. The next day, she discovers the musuem's director's body ~~ and almost against her will, she was drawn into solving the murder mystery case.

This is not your typical suspense novel ~~ it is more relaxed than Elizabeth George's novels and it does move at a slower pace. It is a fun read and I enjoyed it ~~ I plan to read her other books eventually. It's just a good novel with a mystery plot. If you're looking for a good escapism novel ~~ this one would be it.

5-29-06

The classic detective story differs from the police procedural in that the characters tend to be part of a small interconnected group, and the artificiality of this device in Morag Joss' hands is obvious. There is also a trendy upper-middle-class aura which is rather off-putting. But her descriptions of Bath and its surroundings are spot on, and her leading character, a professional cellist, is well conceived. Indeed, some of the passages having to do with music and the blocks which so often prevent us from reaching it seem written out of first-hand experience and are quite moving. It is a pity that the nascent romance in the story has to be nipped in the bud at the end - but these days you have to write with at least one eye open for a possible sequel!

Sara Selkirk no longer plays her cello in public. She gave up her musical career when she suffered an emotional breakdown at the death of a loved one. But a friend and fellow musician convinces her to perform with him at a fund-raising event, and Sara begins to believe she may be able to salvage her career as a professional cellist. That is, until she returns to the museum the morning after her performance to retrieve a lost belt and discovers a dead body.

This British police procedural uses the historic town of Bath, England, and its famous Roman baths almost as another character. The history and the charm of the town provide a perfect setting for unraveling the mystery. In addition to the appealing setting, the author paints her most of her secondary characters -- the police detective with more of an interest in learning to play cello than in his wife and family, the exuberant young health club manager who fell for the wrong guy and an aging renowned cello player who encourages Sara to play again -- with great skill. But some don't fare as well. A young chef, Paul, for example, comes off as flat and confusing, though hunky and mysterious.

If you like your mysteries with a side of interior design and a topping of music history, add Funeral Music to your list. A fast read that seasoned whodunit readers may solve too quickly, the writing sparkles and the puzzle fits together nicely in the end.

For readers who've exhausted the list of crime novels by P.D. James and Elizabeth George and don't mind settling for something almost as good, Morag Joss's novels won't disappoint. Her three Sarah Selkirk mysteries set in Bath and just published in paperback in the U.S. prove well worth tucking away for a vacation read. Even armchair travelers may feel as if they've spent a weekend strolling the English countryside, getting to know a few pleasant Brits.

World class cellist Sara Selkirk remains stunned by the death of her lover, which led to her inability to perform at a recent Paris concert. She has come to Bath to play the Cello at a charity event although she still mourns her loss. Following the event in the Pump Room, Sara finds the host organizer Museum Director Matthew Sawyer floating in the Roman Baths' Sacred Spring, stabbed to death.

Heading the investigation Detective Chief Investigator Andrew Poole has a vested interest that should probably disqualify him as he gets cello lessons from Sara and is attracted to her although he is unhappily married. The inquiries go nowhere as everyone detested the victim. Initially reluctant to talk with Sara about the suspects, Andrew realizes he needs her insight to reduce the list because so many seem to have motive and opportunity. She helps the DCI but rejects his romantic advances even when he swears he left his wife because he loves her. Sara's efforts help her overcome her grief, but also threaten her career as an angry female warns her that if she fails to back off she will lose her hands.

This British police procedural tale hooks the audience due to the star Sara, who struggles with the death of a loved one, understands that the show must go on and rejects the romantic advances of the head investigator. The who-done-it is cleverly designed for an Agatha Christie like finish, but what makes the tale is the deep look at Bath and Sara especially her refreshing refusal to become Andrew's lover. Several secondary players seem add nothing to this well written allegro paced murder mystery that has a crescendo ending.

Harriet Klausner

Boring! What more can I say. I managed to get to the last page of this book and passed it to a friend who is a great fan of Morag Joss' other works (but had never read any of the Sara Selkirk series) and she also had the same reaction - "boring". And to think that along with Funeral Music I ordered (based on my love of Joss' other works like Half Broken Things (fantastic) the other 2 books in the Sara Selkirk series. What will I do with them? Sara Selkirk Mysteries? There's no mystery involved. They're selling for less than I paid for them on Amazon. Why? Maybe because they are soooooooo boring.

I sat down in great anticipation of a good British mystery and instead of reading the book in a single sitting as I usually do, took over a week to finish Funeral Music.

I did not like Sara Selkirk, finding her too self-centred, pretentious and snobby for my tastes. A man was murdered and somehow it was all about her. Sara didn't "investigate" because she was horrified at the death of the victim, rather she was upset that it interfered with the even tenor of her life.
She reacted with distaste at the way George, a security guard treated a homeless woman with a child, yet she was not above the same kind of judgemental actions, albeit higher brow.
I certainly would not count someone like her among my friends and I most likely will not read the next in the series.

In Morag Joss' FUNERAL MUSIC, the main character is Sara Selkirk, a famous cellist recuperating in Bath, England after a nervous breakdown in the middle of a concert. After making a small scale return to playing at a charity event, Sara discovers a dead body...the body of a man she never met.

The central plot of FUNERAL MUSIC revolves around Sara's emotional recovery...the circumstances of her breakdown are reveealed late, although many readers will probably figure it out early on. Meanwhile, Sara's involvement in the murder case is tangiental, driven by the fact that people tell her things almost constantly.....especially the hunky police offer whose marriage is on the rocks and loves the cello.

There almost no suspense in FUNERAL MUSIC, and much of the book is taken up with descriptions of interior design or food preparation......I'm not quite sure where this series can go.