The Violin Conspiracy

I hated so many of the characters in this book, but I was engaged while reading through. Even though the circumstances were consistently frustrating, I needed to know what would happen next. I loved Grandma Nora and I wish I could hear Ray play. I found myself looking up and listening to the pieces he was playing as I was reading along. This is the kind of story that makes me feel like you really can't trust anyone and it didn't help when Ray would make reckless decisions to investigate the missing violin himself. I don't think that any of the people Ray encountered, with like two or three exceptions, deserved respect. I understand that the world as a whole thinks that being “sweet” and respectful to all others is important above all else, but I do not agree. People who are terrible to you do not deserve respect, nor the privilege to engage with you even if they are family. I wish the characterizations went deeper and that there was more nuance in the interactions the main character encountered with both his family and all of the racist people along the way. Every interaction was extreme and didn't help with how shallow all of the characters came across. I feel like I'm begging for nuance in every mystery review though...I liked it overall.