Customer Reviews

THE SEVEN SYMPHONIES: A Finnish Murder Mystery

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recommend this novel highly. It's hard to know what each individual may be searching for in a murder mystery, and there are as many different tastes as there are opinions among readers. Nevertheless, this book is not really about "murder" and "mysteries" per se. It is far more psychological and personal that many other crude attempts that cloud libraries today. It also explores the depths of human experience in the areas relating to sexuality, fears, sexual identity, and long-repressed emotions. There is much in there for any reader to identify with. The characters are very well developed, and there is bound to be at least one moment for everyone to feel that they have "been there" or that they "have been in that particular situation before."

What I like about the book is that it managed to open up certain long forgotten images from my past, some good, and some bad. Once the bad was out of the way (relating to my fear of darkness and bizarre perversions) in the first chapter, then I felt that I could begin exploring the true purposes of the book. There are shocking and disturbing moments in there, but this goes very well with the territory of standard contemporary murder myseries, and it is rather tame compared to other novels that shock for the sake of shocking.

I pride myself on being an expert on the music of Sibelius. I am a musicologist and also an orchestral conductor who has been involved in numerous performance of this music. My initial fear when seeing the book for the first time last year was that my image of the composer might be ruined or "tarnished." I even told the author this after I contacted him through his book website (http://www.sevensymphonies.com/). However, it was impossible for me to put the book down because I felt that 1) He had me completely riveted narrative-wise, 2) I was intrigued about these strange bedfellows: Sibelius and homicide. It wasn't a direct relation to the composer; the music and life of Sibelius was only used as a vehicle for the story, and 3) The author's use of language was very creative and compellingly real; I felt like everything was really happening.

Simon Boswell has obviously put a great deal of thought and planning into this story. It may very well be his apotheosis. As he told me, he has been living in Helsinki for most of his professional life, and the music of Sibelius is one of the things that drew him there. This was exactly the same experience for me (as I know the city of Helsinki quite well), and as a Sibelius scholar, I consider his treatment of the material to be knowledgeable as well as respectful toward Finland's greatest composer. From my perspective, I thought "Why not explore another side of Sibelius?" Since I know every note of his music by this point, I always find it interesting re-explore it through the eyes of others.

I give this an enthusiastic five stars!

Few past the age of 50 can suddenly produce a successful novel. Simon Boswell's talent must have lain dormant like wine, slowly ripening, because this novel's plot could have been laid out only by someone trained as an engineer, as Boswell was. The murder mystery stream and the music of Sibelius (drawn from his composer-teacher talents) continually and maddeningly converge. Expect to have each of your preconceptions proven false, and to sit up all night reading. Then re-read it to relish this astonishing fictional accomplishment.

A surprisingly good effort from a new author and a small press. Boswell can write. He creates fascinating characters and maintains suspense. For American audiences, Seven Symphonies would do better in a shorter version. The author invites readers to omit certain sections, which is fine -- but not conducive to the quick reading we expect in a suspense novel. Definitely worth a look, especially for lovers of classical music.

Rebeccasreads recommends THE SEVEN SYMPHONIES as a masterful immersion into murder, music & morality.

Rather heavy on the language, yet overall when you've finished THE SEVEN SYMPHONIES you'll know a lot about Sibelious & Finland, as well as what makes a killer tick, if not what makes the heart love.

Seven symphonies has nail-biting suspense, serial killings, an exotic setting plus a bonus treat of building appreciation for the music in a symphony. Simon Boswell combines the hunt for a spiralling out of control serial killer with the gradual unvieling of the musical life of the great Finnish composer, Sibelius.The plot is a cleverly intertwined production with escalating violence and a frantic pace. The writing style is as clever and captivating as the young characters and the hip Helsinki setting.

... of the other reviewers here. I don't often read mysteries, but shortly before taking in this one, I'd read another, the beautiful Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. By comparison I found Symphonies clunky in style and over-plotted. And then I was fairly sure who did it by page 100 or so, and quite certain shortly after 300. I did enjoy the musicological lectures. The author clearly loves and understands Sibelius.

What a great read. 450 pages is rather formidable for a mystery, and I was beginning to wonder if I would get "hooked" as I approached page 200 but, for me, the book took off lickety-split and raced to the end from there. I really enjoyed the entirely plausible "red herrings" the author tossed in and the way he anticipated the reader's (my) confusion in the persons of his inspectors. And he kept my in suspense about the identity of the murderer to the end. What piqued my interested initially and what kept me going was my passion for the music of Sibelius. The many references to the composer and his life, as well as the series of lectures being given throughout the mystery by the inspector's father, is a brilliant plot device. And, may I say, not too much for the casual reader or too little for the music lover. Altogether, a great read--and I learned some new things about the composer as well.

This is a fantastic book, well written, & I love the whole Finnish flavour....I would highly recommend this book....I hope he writes more!

This book is unique. It is an intellectual murder mystery. That sounds like an oxymoron, but Boswell manages to pull it off. I couldn't put the book down. My only criticism is that I wanted our heroine Miranda to achieve as much success and satisfaction in her personal (love) life as in her professional life.

I don't read murder mysteries very often and when I do it is mostly to fill dead time on airplanes. Not a knock on the genre per se. I mention it only to point out that I came at this book without normal expectations. What attracted me to it was simply that I was intrigued at the Sibelius connection. I'm a big fan of his music and was wondering if any of what I like about Sibelius would somehow manifest itself in the prose or settings of a novel, and what fun that might be!

In the end, I'd have to say no, except for the geographical and temporal considerations, the Sibelius mood/meaning aspect is largely absent. The Sibelius connection is not entirely gratuitous, as it is worked into the landscape and to an extent the motives. But it is fair to say that the entire book could have been plotted without the lectures or the musicology. The author's inclusion of lectures dumped into the middle of an ongoing narrative that demanded a lot of attention to detail so as not to lose the thread could be called distracting. However, I learned about music and Sibelius's life, so I don't consider the time wasted. I suspect the author at one point had grander ideas of how to better integrate a truly Sibelian mentality into the plot but in the end got defeated, and yet could not entirely rid himself of this obsession. Apt, considering how the plot works itself out.

I will echo what others hear have said about the plotting, the intelligence, the insight, and the language the author employs. I could not put the book down and was grateful I had a holiday that afforded me the time to sit with it for hours. I especially loved the excursion to the countryside and the observations about the Finns and Helsinki, which I have never visited. I'm now afraid I have to go and see for myself. Sounds like a small but very delightful and engaging city.

I do want to chide the author for the perfectly awful job of book design and typesetting. The cover is ugly ugly ugly. The typesetting inside is crude and unimaginative. I understand self-publishers may only have basic word processors like Word available, but surely he could have done a more interesting job and chosen a typeface that is less ubiquitous? On the flip side, the book is well edited and free of inconsistencies and typos. Covers are so important, however, that this poor job is surely going to cost the author a lot in sales and credibility. As Lightning Sources (which is where this books was produced, makes it easy to switch covers, I hope he'll consider a redesign.

Ugly production or no, definitely worth picking up and reading.