I'll begin by saying I love Brendan Slocumb, and I anticipated this book from the moment it was announced. The Violin Conspiracy, Slocumb's debut novel, was an absolute hit for me. Symphony of Secrets had very high expectations to live up to, and it did not disappoint. 

The book is told in dual timelines with some omniscience in the past timeline, which injected even more tension into the present storyline. Bern Hendricks is a professor at a state university and he receives the call of a lifetime; he is asked to interpret the notes of a famous composer on a symphony that has been believed to be lost for almost a century. Bern calls upon Eboni for help and they soon realize together that the history is much more complicated than what the public believes about the composer, Frank Delaney. 

In the 1920s, Delaney was a mildly successful musician and songwriter. Then he met a beautiful black woman named Josephine Reed. A secret relationship began and suddenly Delaney became wildly more successful. And that's the mystery that Bern and Eboni are unraveling, but it will not be without danger for themselves. 

This book is long but so easy to read and so hard to put down. The narration of the audiobook is fantastic. And again, I'm blown away by Slocumb's ability to tell a beautiful, moving story with a complex mystery with no plot holes. It's just so incredible, and then there is all of the rich knowledge and appreciation of music that he brings to his writing from being a performer and teacher himself. I can't capture the intense mood of this book, the spot on commentary about racism and microaggressions, the haunting mystery, and all the rest, but trust me- it hits every note. Sorry not sorry for the music pun. :)