Murder in C Major » (Us Trade Paperb)

Sara Hoskinson Frommer is the author of five previous Joan Spencer mysteries: "The Vanishing Violinist," "Murder & Sullivan," "Buried in Quilts," "Murder in C Major," and "Witness in Bishop Hill," She lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Originally published in 1988, Murder in C Major is the first of Sara Hoskinson Frommer's delightful series featuring Joan Spencer and set in the not so sleepy small college community of Oliver, Indiana. Excellently and innovatively constructed with a most unusual murder method, it centers around the sudden death of the first oboist during his solo in Schubert's Great C Major Symphony. Then a flutist is found with a slashed throat and Joan, who plays the viola and manages the symphony's music library, finds herself involved in helping Lt. Fred Lundquist, a detective in Oliver's police force, to unravel the clues that will identify the murderer. This title radiates with a warmth and understanding of humanity combined with a deep and rich appreciation of music.

About the Author:

Sara Hoskinson Frommer is a charter member of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Bloomington, Indiana, where she has lived for more than 30 years after growing up mostly in northern Illinois, with a few years in Hawaii. Like Joan Spencer, her amateur detective, she plays viola, and like Joan, she also has played in the pit for Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. But both Joan and Sara have a life beyond music, including adult children. "A good thing, too," Sara says. "Fortunately, I write better than I play!" She prepared for her career as a mystery writer by studying German at Oberlin College (Ohio), in Tübingen (Germany) and at Brown University. Sara has also written 16 short, easy-to-read books for adult new readers. Published by New Readers Press, the publishing division of Laubach Literacy International, they are known as the Kaleidoscope Collection of Stories. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Sunday Herald-Times - Elizabeth Winkler

Another Joan Spencer-Fred Lundquist adventure from Sara Frommer would be welcome.