Danse Macabre: A Daniel Jacobus Mystery

By Gerald Elias

Daniel Jacobus, reclusive blind concert master and amateur sleuth, returns to solve a most despicable crime and to clear an innocent man

Just after his Carnegie Hall swansong and before his imminent departure for retirement in France, beloved violinist and humanitarian Rene Allard is brutally murdered with a mysterious weapon. His young African American rival, crossover artist BTower, is spotted at the scene of the crime hovering over the contorted body of Allard with blood on his hands. In short order the aloof and arrogant BTower is convicted and sentenced to death, in part the result of the testimony of blind and curmudgeonly violin pedagogue Daniel Jacobus, like millions of others, an ardent admirer of Allard. Justice has been served…or has it? Jacobus is dragged back into the case kicking and screaming, and reluctantly follows a trail of broken violins and broken lives as it leads inexorably to the truth, and to his own mortal peril.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Aug 31, 2010
• ISBN: 9781429929455

Gerald Elias

Gerald Elias leads a double life as a critically acclaimed author and world-class musician. His award-winning Daniel Jacobus mystery series, beginning with Devil's Trill, takes place in the dark corners of the classical music world. He has also penned two standalone novels, The Beethoven Sequence, a chilling political thriller, and Roundtree Days, a Jefferson Dance Western mystery. Elias's prize-winning essay, "War & Peace. And Music," excerpted from his insightful musical memoir, Symphonies & Scorpions, was the subject of his 2019 TEDx presentation. His essays and short stories have appeared in prestigious journals ranging from The Strad to Coolest American Stories 2023. A former violinist with the Boston Symphony and associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, Elias has performed on five continents and since 2004 he has been the conductor of Salt Lake City's popular Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber orchestra series. In 2022, he released the first complete recording of the Opus 1 sonatas of the Baroque virtuoso-composer, Pietro Castrucci, on Centaur Records. Elias divides his time between the shores of Puget Sound in Seattle and his cottage in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, spending much time outdoors and maintaining a vibrant concert career while continuing to expand his literary horizons. He particularly enjoys coffee, cooking, watching sports, and winter weather.