The second installment in Yorkshire Dales’ detective series (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #Book 1 did not disappoint.
DCI Oldroyd comes back again to solve a crime of love, greed, hatred, passion and… music (thus, the quartet). Yes, it is to do with quartet – musical collective of 4 musicians, string quartet at that.
Two murders, missing Stradivari violin, Chamber Orchestra Society, Music school in London, East versus West, broken lives and blinding greed – all find their way into Yorkshire dales just before Christmas.
Oldroyd does his job in his own slow ‘Oxford-educated’ way. He is magician of sorts, pulling out ideas and suggestions out of thin air. He has helpers, a lot of helpers, from his assistant Carter to a group of stolen art hunters.
Crimes get solved by the end of the book. But there are no clear borders between good and evil. Oldroyd has done his job and can celebrate Christmas… until the next case.
This book was a slow joy to read. A very good change to the fast-pace of modern crime-fiction. Just what doctor ordered.
Svetlana Tishchenko 