Paganini's Ghost

Good Read. Well written.

I love the characters and atmosphere of this book. A great follow up to The Rainaldi Quartet. Full of suspense but also speaks historically and even has an 'ethics' element. I recommend it - especially if you like Paganini!

New favorite author

Oh.my.goodness. I picked this book up at the library because it showed up when I typed in "violin" into the search feature. This book is awesome! I didn't realize that this is the second book by Adams and, while the characters are the same, you lose nothing if you read this book first. I absolutely love this book...if you like mysteries or if you're as obsessed with music as I am, you'll want to grab a copy of this book asap :)

Author seeps in too much

To begin with the positive, Mr. Adams does a wonderful job of drawing a reader inexperienced in the world of classical music into its history, motivations, and intriguing events. The clues of the box, Moses' Fantasy, etc., are interesting and unique. I enjoyed reading a mystery from the perspective of a semi-retired widower as opposed to the popular 30- or 40-something bachelor.

With that said, a good book shouldn't allow the author's personal views to be so obvious. Mr. Adams displays a severe dislike for Catholicism, and though I am not Catholic, I found it obvious, unnecessary to plot and character development, and inhibiting to an easy, flowing read.

Aside from that, it takes him about 80 pages of only 275 to get to a murder or a mystery. The advantage of this is that we get to know the characters better before being thrust into the action. The disadvantage is that the reader keeps asking when something is going to happen that warrants a continued read. It is surprising that the main character, Gianni, has little concern or interest in the murder and possible kidnapping in the first half of the book, particularly when he is presented as a character with integrity and empathy.

Overall, the book is enjoyable, just not particularly noteworthy. I haven't struggled to put it down, but if I have time, or if it's one of those "rainy days," then it helps an hour pass by unnoticed. Worth a read due to the musical world it presents.

Music, priceless violins, Italy, and a mystery, too

Paul Adam's PAGANINI'S GHOST is an excellent follow-up to an excellent book, THE RAINALDI QUARTET. Gianni Castiglione, living in the quiet city of Cremona, is a luthier who is well-known among musicians for his pain-staking work in restoring valuable instruments. He is used to having people appear at his home, carrying their instruments in varied and, sometimes, bizarre ways but he had never seen anything like the line of vehicles approaching his home.

"There were six vehicles in the convoy....At the front was a blue-an-white police patrol car with it's red light flashing....Behind the police car was a shiny dark blue Alfa Romeo with tinted windows, followed by a black armoured van....Fourth in the line was a red Fiat Bravo, then a silver Mercedes....Bringing up the rear was a second marked police car.

"Two men got out of the Alfa Romeo....they looked like the bodyguards you always see accompanying the U.S. president....And I suppose bodyguards they were, only the body they were guarding was made of maple and pine, rather than flesh and blood."

And thus begins PAGANINI'S GHOST. Paganini's violin, "il Cannone", the cannon, is played only once, every two years, by the winner of an international competition. That evening Yevgeny Ivanov is to play to a sold out concert in the cathedral, but Yevgeny is sure that there is something "off" about the tone and desperately needs Gianni's help. The problem is easily fixed and the concert is an enormous success. The Guarneri violin is returned to Genoa and all is well...until the next day when the body of a violin dealer is found, murdered, in his hotel room. In his wallet is a small piece of paper with the opening notes of Paganini's "Moses Fantasy". In addition to the music, the police discover that the victim has left, in the hotel safe, a gold box engraved on the lid with the figure of Moses on Mt.Sinai. And then Yevgeny disappears.

The action moves from Cremona, to Genoa, to Paris, to England, and back again. And along the way, there is Paganini, Napoleon Bonaparte, his sister, Elise, and the rumors of a very small solid gold violin.

PAGANINI'S GHOST reacquaints us with the people we met in the RAINALDI QUARTET. It is a crash course in violins, composers, historical figures, and beautiful things that by their beauty, bring out the worst in human nature.

a great nineteenth century tale that uses music as the core of a murder mystery

Assistant curator of antiquities for the city of Genoa Enrico Golinelli surrounded by a mob of his sycophants arrives at the workshop of elderly renowned violin maker Giovanni Castiglione. They need the artisan to inspect the legendary treasure, Nicolo Paganini's priceless il Cannone to insure it is in perfect condition for tonight's gala performance. Russian Yevgeny Ivanov won a contest for the right to play the instrument at a recital in the Cremona Cathedral.

Following Ivanov's incredible performance, news arrives that that Parisian art dealer Francois Villeneuve has been murdered. Detective Antonio Guastafe leads the investigation, but asks Castiglione to assist him especially since the fine arts are involved starting with a locked golden box allegedly belonging to Paganini. Castiglione opens the box by using Paganini's music as the key and inside is a letter from Napoleon's sister Elisa Baciocchi as the case spins out of control with an alleged abduction.

The second Castiglione historical whodunit (see The Rainaldi Quartet) is a great nineteenth century tale that uses music as the core of a murder mystery. The investigation is terrific as Guastafe brings in an expert he trusts to interpret the music clues while the key cast is fully developed. Sub-genre fans will enjoy Paul Adam conducting a musical mystery tour of nineteenth century Europe though the eyes of master violin maker Castiglione with over five decades in the art of construction and restoration.

Harriet Klausner

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No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.