MOZART'S LAST ARIA - Matt Rees

I am always interested in fiction that relates to music so when I saw this book in a local used book store, I bought it. It's been on my shelf for years, but while on an extended vacation, this was one of the books I decided to bring along.

We are in Austria in the 18th century. Nannerl is Wolfang Amadeus Mozart's sister. Mozart has been estranged from the family, including his sister for many years.  Nannerl received a letter from Mozart's wife telling her that Wolfang was dead. In the letter, Nannerl learns that before he died, her brother believed he had been poisoned and would, indeed, die soon.

Nannerl goes to Austria to pay her respects to her brother and to learn what really happened to him. She discovers a world of conspiracy and scandal and must walk a careful path so as not to be taken in by unscrupulous rivals or secret police.

The blurb for this book sounds really tremendous. A historical drama with lots of intrigue surrounding one of the greatest figures in music to have ever lived.  Who wouldn't want to read something like this!?

Well ... anyone who actually has read it, unfortunately.

The book suffers from 'great-idea-but-now-what' syndrome. Author Matt Rees failed to pick a path to really build a story.  The book is centered around Nannerl, and she comes off as a capable, arresting character.  I liked reading her. But she doesn't really do anything.  She plays piano.  She charms a few people. She asks questions about her brother.  These are pretty passive actions when confronting a story of mystery and intrigue.

Overall, the book fails to do anything or say anything, which makes it a pretty dull read.

Looking for a good book? Mozart's Last Aria by Matt Rees struggles to find a purpose and fails to be an enjoyable read.

I bought this book at a used book store.

2 stars

* * * * * *

Mozart's Last Aria

author: Matt Rees

publisher: Harper Perennial

ISBN: 0062015869

hardcover, 336 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more