Lauren Wesley-Smith reads Evie Woods’ novel following the search for a stolen violin – with some personification of the instrument itself
The Violin Maker’s Secret
Evie Woods
417PP ISBN 9780008696597
HarperCollins £9.99
It all begins with the purchase of a violin from Heathrow Airport’s Lost and Found – one that turns out to be a stolen instrument that the thief, a ruthless woman known only as V, will do anything to get back. An unlikely trio comprising baggage handler Devlin, retired teacher Walter and violin appraiser Gabrielle soon find themselves swept up in the intrigue and romance surrounding the mysterious instrument as they try to discover its true provenance.
When reading a fictional work set in an industry you know a great deal about, one is always wary of howlers – details that are egregiously wrong, or things no one would ever say. Fortunately, this novel was well researched enough to avoid most of these pitfalls, offering vivid imagery of the violin workshops, museums and the instruments.
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It’s magical realism, so there’s an element of the fantastical entering into the otherwise mundane lives of the main characters, transforming them through their encounters with the special violin. Much like the 1998 film The Red Violin, the novel features flashbacks to all the past owners of the instrument, each with their own narrative arc, but with the added personification of the violin itself as a sentient force.
Woods seems most comfortable writing for the current era, as the first flashback to 1812 comes across as amateurish in its mimicry of a period piece, but fortunately the quality of writing improves as the subsequent flashbacks draw nearer to the modern age.
While the tales are mostly fictitious, the novel is also peppered with real figures from history – violinists Nicolò Paganini and Eva Mudocci, artist Marie Bashkirtseff, and also author Agatha Christie. There’s even mention made of the Lorenzo Carcassi violin stolen from a London pub in 2025, a case duly covered by The Strad.
The cosy genre walks a fine line between comfortable and predictable, and The Violin Maker’s Secret sometimes strays towards the latter. In the end, however, it’s a pleasant enough read, which achieves what it sets out to do, with all its loose ends neatly tied up.
LAUREN WESLEY-SMITH
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