Let me confess at the outset that my knowledge of classical music extends no further than the “classic rock” stations on my local FM and Sirius XM radios. That said, Murder at the Royal Albert, the latest entry in the Daniel Jacobus series, makes no demands on the reader’s musical aptitude. In this latest entry, Natasha Conrad, the youngest and newest member of Harmonium, a New York City-based classical orchestra, is shot and killed partway through her first performance with the orchestra at London’s renowned Royal Albert Hall. Despite a packed hall, no one sees the shooter, and, thanks to a percussive note struck with a hammer during performance of Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, no one hears the shot, either. So…who killed Natasha, and why? The ensuing tale is a captivating mystery, told with just the right number of red herrings and plot twists (and tea, and scones) that the seasoned reader has come to expect in a well-crafted British mystery. Author Gerald Elias, himself an accomplished author as well as a classically-trained musician, has given mystery fans a delightful, informative and entertaining read. One can only hope Elias will soon provide us with an encore.
Gregory Stout, author of the Jackson Gamble PI series

This book was skillfully written and plotted it was a very different read for me and I enjoyed every moment of it. The author pulled me from the very beginning and I didn't turn away I didn't even put the book down. You don't have to be a musician to appreciate or even understand the twists and turns in this book. The characters were well-written and entertaining. I would recommend this book to others.

Tightly written, skillfully plotted, this musical murder mystery grabs the reader and doesn't let go. Elias is clearly experienced at capturing audiences, both musical and literary. He leaves the reader with a sense of wonder and astonishment at the machinations of musicians as they duel with each other in inharmonious battles. Highly recommend.

Murder at the Royal Albert is the 8th Daniel Jacobus mystery by Gerald Elias. Released 1st Jan 2023 by Level Best Books, it's 234 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written series with a relatable curmudgeonly protagonist and very well constructed mysteries. The consensus is for authors to write what they know and the formula certainly works to great effect here; the author is an experienced professional musician who clearly knows his way around classical music and the life of an orchestral musician.

Although Jacobus shines as main protagonist, the author has built up a wonderful ensemble cast and seeing them interact with one another is a delight. The addition of classical music knowledge and history elevates the book delightfully.

Although it's the 8th book in the series, the mystery is self contained in this volume and it works perfectly well as a standalone. With so many books extant, it's also a good candidate for a long binge or buddy read.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Murder at the Royal Albert is a mystery filled with twists and turns throughout the entire book. It is chock full of wonderful characters to assist Daniel, our sleuth. I especially love Yumi, as she works to keep the case relevant with anyone who will listen. The dry wit is fun throughout the story and that helps as well.

In the middle, it did get a bit slow for me, but it did start to pick back up as theories were starting to formulate. I'm so glad I stuck with it, as the ending was quite good.

This is book 6 of 'The Daniel Jacobus' series, but it can be read as a standalone.

I recommend 'Murder at the Royal Albert's for those who like British mysteries.

Author Gerald Elias hits all the right notes in this smartly crafted mystery.

Though the world-class symphony setting and classical music will be a natural draw for many, you don't have to be a musician to appreciate the twists and turns of the story. Elias has masterfully created engaging characters, led by the incorrigible Daniel Jacobus, who simply will not rest until the murder is sufficiently solved..

Bravo, Mr. Elias!

You need not be a lover of classical music to love Murder at the Royal Albert. Elias led me into the concert hall, where I could almost hear the music and then try to solve the mystery of the opening murder, along with a crew of endearing amateur detectives. Several well paced plot twists add to the charm of the book. Along the way, my knowledge of classical music, especially Mahler, doubled, with no effort!

Not a bad read. I enjoyed the detail about the music industry, though can see why others did not.

The cast of characters was entertaining but I did feel the book suffered somewhat from “an American writing about London syndrome” - too much brown food and it rains all the time.

Thanks for Netgallery for the ARC.

A great story for the aficionados of cosy crime novels, but with the added twist of having musical settings. The author's musical knowledge really adds to the sense of reality in the settings. this is the 6th in the series and I am going to go back and read all of the others, so that I get to know some of the central characters.

This was my first Daniel Jacobus mystery and I found it a fascinating look into the world of symphony orchestras and the ins and outs of the lives of classical musicians. Throw in a shocking murder in the midst of a particularly dramatic piece of music and .... the stage is set! (In more ways that one!:)) A great read that keeps you guessing, especially if you are a fan of the "locked room' type of mystery. A really fun puzzle for mystery lovers to solve!

This is a perfect book for a cold winter day in front of the fire. A promising young violinist, Natasha Conrad, is playing her first concert in the Royal Albert in London. Near the end of Mahler's Symphony #6, on the third hammer blow, Natasha was shot and died almost immediately. Her teacher, Yumi Hashimoto, was also playing in the orchestra and was devastated by Natasha's death. The rest of the story is follows the investigation Yumi, her teacher, Daniel Jacobus, her friend, Nathaniel, her grandmother, Kate, and her great-aunt, Leonia, undertake to find out who the murderer was and the "why" of the act. They pick up another team member, Branwell Small, at a concert and he gets into the action as well.
Elias' knowledge of orchestras and of classical music adds the right amount of background to the mystery without overwhelming the reader. The characters are very much characters and very believable. The pacing of the story is excellent with few slow places - it kept me reading to the end. I will watch for Elias' books and read more of his mysteries.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book; the opinions expressed are all mine.

While reading this, I couldn't shake a feeling of uneasy dissatisfaction with it, resulting in the ultimate conclusion that while it was an okay story in a workaday sense, there was something a little 'off' about it. Indeed, there were many things a little off, most of these being relatively small, but adding up to quite a large whole. Possibly the largest of these was the gun-toting behaviour of respectable elderly English retirees.. Small blithely carrying a Luger in the glove compartment of his car is frankly ridiculous. Might happen in America, but most unlikely in London, and the constant stream of Americanisms in the mouths of the various English characters was disconcerting. This struck a very discordant note, but was by no means the only aspect of the book that did so. A good many things were just not quite right; not quite 'English'. Had the book been set in, say, New York it would have been fine, but what was written bore little resemblance to the London I know and love, and this is from a Londoner, born and bred. The drug Imidrex, supposedly purchased from a chemist in London, is not even available in the UK.!!

Also on the downside was the disparate group of less than likeable characters and the discomfortingly appalling way that while staying at her house and eating her bread and salt - and presumably not paying a penny for the privilege - the whole group treated Aunt Leonie little better than a servant. The dismissive and servile treatment meted out to her by her houseguests was horrible. Also, I can't say I took to Yumi as a main character either. Everything seemed to be about her, even the death of her student. Her sympathy seemed to be more directed at herself for having lost a brilliant prodigy rather than with the poor young woman for having lost her life. And her presumption at giving £100 to the secretary who had lost her job was little better than a rich Lady giving alms to a lowly beggar from the comfort of her gilded carriage and in the security of her privileged position.. It was quite a disgraceful scene. Her relationship with Jacobus is totally unconvincing and there seems very little chemistry between them.

The one thing that did ring true was the reticence and stonewalling attitude of the police towards the amateur sleuths. This is about the only realistic thing about this travesty of errors. Not a book that I could recommend for many reasons, but if one is looking for light escapism and is none too fussy about cultural accuracy and characterisation, then it's perfect.

It’s not often you get a look behind the curtain of a symphony orchestra. Elias brings us where few authors can with the deft hand of an accomplished concertmaster. A young musician is murdered during the performance of Mahler’s Sixth at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall. It appears Mahler’s ghost has taken his prize and the investigation stalls. A colorful cast of characters, including the somewhat curmudgeonly Daniel Jacobus, set out to solve the mystery without becoming the next victim. A classically inspired Sherlock mystery that hits all the right notes.

A young musician is just about to have her debut when she is shot during the performance. Who would have killed such an inoffensive person? Just a few of the questions raised during this mystery featuring a blind detective and the world of classical music.

The characters are complex and interesting. Their relationships with each other is another star in this book. It helps to like the characters because there is a lot of talk during the book and long passages where there isn't much action.

There are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing and a side arc that may have been featured throughout the rest of the series (this is the first book in the series I've read). You don't have to know anything about classical music but it does help if you like that genre of music because there is some in-depth discussion about it.

An interesting mystery that has more culture than most cozies.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Sound the drum, pull back the curtain! Anglophiles and mystery lovers will embrace this rich novel filled with delightful moments of intrigue. The European tour of the elite orchestra Harmonium is disrupted and the fallout from the murder is devastating. Elias, an experienced professional musician, takes a hammer-stroke from Mahler’s Symphony #6 and places it center stage in this unusual murder tale. He builds tension immediately when the audience and the orchestra both hold their breath—will there be two or three hammer strokes to punctuate the symphony? The reader is provided a substantial glimpse behind the scenes of a professional orchestra and the working lives of its musicians as well as the quirky and interesting classical music lovers who follow them. English detectives round out the cast as the story develops through their interrogations. Even when the murderer is revealed, there is a twist found in through a note and another mystery presents itself, putting the murderer’s conspirator in question. Elias moves the plot through snappy dialogue with a smattering of puns to lighten the weight. One does not need to have read previous novels in this series to thoroughly enjoy the story, plot points, or characters as each component comes fully together. Read Murder at the Royal Albert, and you’ll have a jolly good, though circuitous and thoughtful, time of it.

I don't think I will be able to listen to Mahler as I did before. A solid, entertaining, and well plotted mystery that kept me hooked and guessing.
It's the first I read in this series and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Murder at the Royal Albert was a lively, empathetic, and informed journey into the rarefied precincts of classical music. This mystery delivered a droll and determined set of amateur sleuths on a mission to discover who murdered a young violinist making her Albert Hall debut in London. Her shooting seems horrifically random. Who would want to execute this fledgling musician? This is the eighth book in the famed Daniel
Jacobus series, so we are lucky the blind sleuth is in the audience to witness the mystery as it opens. Daniel and his intrepid band of friends pursue the case even when the police give up..Trips to quaint village pubs and equally quaint publishing houses provide important clues for the sleuthing team. As satisfying as it is to uncover the solution to the inciting death,, even more rewarding is the journey to discover the troubled past of Daniel Jacobus. His personal exploration gives depth and poignancy to this traditional mystery. Highly recommended.

Gerald Elias’s latest Daniel Jacobus mystery, MURDER AT THE ROYAL ALBERT, is really four books in one: a classic murder mystery; an immersion into the world of classical music and the musicians who perform and revere their work; the underbelly of “true crime” writing; and the more complete backstory of the series’ pivotal character, Daniel Jacobus.

For those whose taste runs to cozy locked door mysteries, MURDER AT THE ROYAL ALBERT will be more than satisfying. The crime takes place in the opening chapter in the packed Royal Albert concert venue, and the crime—its victim, a true innocent—reminds us that in the aftermath of such mysteries lies sadness and grief; murder, after all, is more than a mere intellectual conundrum, even as the questions remain: how and why. The former is a question of logistics and revealed plot detail, the latter an issue of inscrutable motive until Jacobus unravels the various clues, and it is this last that brings us to the humanity of the murderer as well as his victim. Motive may be trauma and a recognition that murderers may be victims as well.

For readers interested in those musicians and ensembles who continue to venerate musical traditions hundreds of years old, there is no shortage of composers and compositions referenced. That the crime occurs during the climactic moment of Mahler’s Sixth is one of the key components of the narrative. Two hammer strokes or three? Is the third hammer stroke the deciding factor in our murderer’s choice or mere coincidence? In that regard, calculation and chance in crime meet as surely as in Mahler’s own indecision.

Elias also introduces a metafictional touch in the telling of his story when he introduces a series of “ripped from the headlines” books that purport to solve current murders without regard for evidence or truth. MURDER AT THE ROYAL ALBERT thus becomes both the crime that Jacobus is meant to solve and a mass market “true crime” novel filled with untruths and wild accusations: a larger indictment of our current appetites for murder-as-puzzle, regardless of those individuals who may be tarred by a writer’s profiteering brush.

But what may be most touching of all the narratives within this book is the final resolution to the many facets of Jacobus’s character. A musician, whose sight has been lost; an amateur sleuth, whose deductions are the result of a mind able to retain seemingly disparate pieces of information, Jacobus may not possess greater insight than the rest of his dear friends, but he does have a greater capacity to synthesize the various facts on hand. While the reader does not need to have read all of the other Jacobus mysteries on offer, familiarity with the character will make for a richer experience. Indeed, Jacobus—blind, cranky, unwilling to suffer fools, but lover of good food, well-aged spirits, and (above all) the classical canon—is the true heart of the novel.

Bravo, maestro Elias!

A unique, enjoyable and interesting novel about murder against a backdrop of classical music. You don't need to have any knowledge of music, but I decided, inspired by the novel, to listen to Mahler's Sixth Symphony, to try and picture the scene in the Royal Albert Hall. Closing my eyes, I listened for the third, fateful hammer drop. It was an effective exercise!
However, the novel is more about solving a puzzling crime. With a cast of diverse characters, including Yumi, a Japanese violin player, and her family members, the plot takes us through a variety of motives, clues and red herrings, to reach an eventful and satisfying conclusion.
The novel also adds a 'bittersweet' twist at the end.
Murder at the Royal Albert is a wonderful and timeless work of literature which will appeal to all readers of crime fiction! It has been a pleasure to review this novel for NetGalley.

The rarefied world of top-tier orchestral musicians provides a fascinating backdrop for this mystery, the latest installation in a series featuring violinist Daniel Jacobus.

Someone is murdered in the midst of a performance by a world-class orchestra, attended by thousands, inside a storied concert hall. There is no apparent motive, making the task of finding the killer that much more challenging, yet it is vitally important to Jacobus and others close to him to solve the murder. Although the London police close the case, with what amounts to a confession in hand, Jacobus is convinced they have not uncovered the inciting incident for the crime. With his friends, he launches an investigation that takes him to unexpected places and even more unexpected encounters. When Jacobus finally solves the puzzle, he not only finds the true guilty party, he also provides vindication for a number of people who have been harmed.

The mechanics of orchestra touring, as well as the dynamics of orchestra politics, make for entertaining reading. Most readers will have little insight about insider topics such as how musicians’ salaries are negotiated or even how their travel arrangements are made. The author gives us an enticing view into a glamorous world that few are privileged to see firsthand.

In addition to Daniel Jacobus, the curmudgeonly protagonist, the book is populated with lively and interesting characters who come from a wide range of backgrounds, most of whom would be right at home in an English village mystery.

The settings come alive, especially the title setting, but also the rest of the book’s locations from a luxurious Belgravia home to a country inn, to a poor apartment in a run-down corner of London. Food and drink are described in loving detail, and the characters enjoy many enticing meals.

At times the technical details about the music may be difficult for non-musical readers to appreciate. It would also be helpful for new readers to the series to have more backstory on Jacobus and some of the other recurring series characters. Nonetheless, it is possible to glean enough in context to follow the action.

Classical music lovers and classic whodunnit lovers will both find much to enjoy in this book.