Violinist fears her child

This book is nothing like Gerritsen’s previous offering, and yet fans should definitely grab a copy as quickly as possible.

When a book takes mere hours to finish, it must have something captivating to keep the world at bay.

Playing with Fire has no murder, in fact no one dies at all (in current times) and Rizzoli and Isles – the two female protagonists in most of Gerritsen’s work – make no appearance.

While you may miss the feminine crime fighters, fear not as Gerritsen’s penchant for the gruesome has not been foresaken with a healthy dose of the macabre, signing this as yet another winner from Gerritsen’s pen.

This novel follows the Julia Ansdell between modern day America and wartime (World War II) Italy.

The two countries and historical eras are joined by a seemingly haunted waltz composed pre-war by Jewish-Italian violinist Lorenzo, which Julia, also a violinist, finds in an antiques store in Rome.

Once home with the music, Julia sits down to try it out and, lost in the notes loses track of time and her three-year-old daughter Lily’s games in their backyard.

Julia is suddenly brought back into the present when Lily screams and Julia finds her daughter has had a violent reaction to the piece.

When she plays it for the second time, and Lily again become violently stabbing her mother with a shard of glass, Julia is convinced the piece has something to do with the change in the charming little girl’s disposition.

It is this belief that propels Julia into Italy in the 1940s in an attempt to find out the music and it’s composer’s history.

Soon Julia finds herself back in Italy where she discovers a tale of love and tragedy which will put her life in danger, and ultimately save it.

The author of the waltz – “Incendio” – is a young man named Lorenzo who lived in Venice before the start of World War II.

When his grandfather recognises his talent from a young age he is given a family heirloom in the form of a violin which later leads him to Laura, the woman with whom he falls in love when the two are paired to perform in a local contest.

However, as the war rages across Europe, Jewish people in Italy are being rounded up and shipped to concentration camps.

Italian laws have also been changed to excluding Jewish people from many pursuits, including the ability to compete in the competition they have spent months rehearsing for.

The novel weaves the two tales into one beautiful symphony which throws Julia into it’s tragic crescendo when she learns of Laura and Lorenzo’s separate fates.

However, triumph returns in the closing bars when all is revealed about Lily’s supposed attempt to kill her mother.

While the historical reminiscing is not always entirely accurate, Playing with Fire captivated me from the first page, daring me try to put it down before reading the last word – a dare I certainly lost.

** Readers can enjoy a sample of the theme music for this book “Incendio” on Tess Gerritsen’s webpage or download the full seven minute track. The music was composed by Gerritsen and performed by violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou on a 1739 Guarneri violin.

“This is our first collaboration, and Susanne truly captured the passion and fire of both the music and the story,” says Gerritsen on her website.