Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin [Hardcover]

Jim Fusilli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2008

A smart, sophisticated mystery involving theft and bizarre characters, set in New York City.

Marley Z. is a hip, outgoing, and confident New York City kid just starting eighth grade. When her best friend is accused of stealing a priceless violin on display at The Juilliard School, Marley steps in to prove her friend’s innocence. So begins her mad dash around the city—from the Metropolitan Museum, to stately doormen buildings, to a violin teacher’s artsy brownstone, to her favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant.

Suspects and motives appear and vanish, but intrepid Marley won’t stop until she has the right answers. Smart, quick, and lively, this book introduces a great new detective and the city she loves.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–9—Fusilli combines his knowledge of music, love of New York City, and respect and ear for precocious teenagers into a fast-paced mystery. Marley Zimmerman, 14, is jolted from a daydream in her boring math class when she and her friend Marisol are summoned to the vice principal's office. Marisol is accused of stealing a rare violin from a Juilliard display. Even though the theft is caught on videotape, Marisol denies all knowledge of it, and Marley is convinced that her friend, a talented violinist, would never take such a rare instrument. Soon Marley and her friends, members of a new and mostly unrehearsed band called the Kingston Cowboys, are on the case. The teens move across a New York City backdrop that incorporates locales such as the Zimmermans' brownstone, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Central Park, hunting clues and gathering suspects. Unshakable in her conviction of Marisol's innocence, intrepid Marley employs all of her abilities and resources to save her friend. Marley is a fully drawn character, and the supporting cast members are developed well enough to make them compelling and interesting. This mystery keeps pages turning to its surprise ending.—Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Fusilli, who has written for adults, this time offers a mystery for a younger audience—with mixed results. Fourteen-year-old Marley Zimmerman is a New Yorker through and through. The sights and sounds of the city provide background to the drama that takes place when a video surfaces that shows Marley’s best friend, Marisol, stealing a valuable violin from the Juilliard School of Music. But Marisol, a promising violinist, has no recollection of the theft. So it’s up to Marley to smoke out the real culprit and clear her friend’s name. Fusilli plays fast and loose with the way hypnotism works and how police pursue a case, and although the NYC ambience adds a sense of place, less would have been more. When the focus is on the interaction between the kids, however, this works well enough to hold readers’ interest. From a stylistic standpoint, the book neatly weaves past and present events, and more surprising than the who done it is the why. Give this to readers waiting for the next Sammy Keyes installment. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (June 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525479074
• ISBN-13: 978-0525479079
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,257,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new Jim Fusilli novel for all ages, February 10, 2009

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin (Hardcover)

Jim Fusilli is one of my favorite authors - even though he hasn't written fiction in a while - His Terry Orr series was one of my favorites - A young widower, Terry Orr, takes care of his daughter Bella, while trying to cope with the deaths of his wife, a famous painter, and their infant son, who died when they were run over by a subway train.
One of the coolest characters of the series was Diddio, a music critic and good friend to the Orrs. (Mr.Fusilli is also a fine music critic for The Wall Street Journal)
The series was resolved, and aside from a short story, the Orrs were no more. Mr. Fusilli had participating in other literary and musical ventures.
Now Mr. Fusilli has written an excellent 'young people's' book Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin, and has the start of a wonderful series for all ages. Marley Zimmerman's parents are accomplished - her Dad is a famous comic book artist and illustrator, and her Mom is a well known Wall Street lawyer. Marley's friend Marisol, is accused of stealing a valuable violin - and the videotape proves she indeed takes it - but Marisol doesn't remember anything...Marley and her friends seek to find what happened to Marisol and clear her name.
New York is another character in this book, as it has been in his other works. Vividly written and alive -
Crisp, sharp writing with a heart, Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin will have you turning pages to figure out how this theft really came about.
Jim Fusilli writes a weekly column in the Wall Street Journal and seems to have the fiction bug again - it's our gain - he's a writer's writer.
With his passion and knowledge of music, creating a character like Marley Zimmerman who is forming a rock/reggae group with a nose for detecting is just what the mystery fans ordered.
A wonderful read for all ages.