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Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite
Dissonance: A Novel of Music and Murder by Barbara Burt is a mystery that begins and ends strongly. Allegra Brewster (Allie) is passionate about music. She thinks that her much-needed job as the assistant executive director of a summer music festival is the result of her credentials and hard work and not because her dad is on the board. Her father is sinking, beyond his usual anxiety, while her mother has remarried and moved to Europe. As Allie pours energy into her career, a problem ensues when conflict erupts between the festival’s board and the orchestra’s musicians, which puts Allie’s loyalties to the test. The conflict is exacerbated when she finds a prominent woman murdered during a fundraising concert. Many people with ill feelings toward the victim are potential suspects, but it is her father whom the police target as the prime suspect.
Dissonance has the parameters of a crime-solving story with a handful of potential suspects, each having possible motives for committing the crime. Readers are treated to a whodunit game as the sleuthing protagonist digs deeper, obsessed with uncovering the truth, especially when her father becomes the prime suspect. Barbara Burt builds strong emotional involvement, as she not only explores the mystery behind the murder but also Allie’s relationship with the people in her small town and her father. Burt’s supporting characters are not deceptive but simply pushed into living their lives and protecting their existence. Dissonance has the kind of mysterious suspense that makes it engaging, and fans of the genre will enjoy reading this story.
