In the 1820s in northern Italy, the Marchese Lodovico Malvezzi—powerful, arrogant, music-obsessed—is found dead. That the Marchese was murdered is hushed up for some years, allowing the main suspect, a young singer known only as Orfeo, to disappear. When the authorities realise that a crime was committed, the famous English dandy and sleuth Julian Kestrel learns of it and travels to Italy to unravel the truth behind what happened, while also finding himself entranced by Lodovico's beautiful young widow, Beatrice.

The Devil in Music is stronger than the previous work of Kate Ross' that I've read, [book: Whom the Gods Love], and she was clearly improving as a writer before her untimely death not long after this final book of hers was published. Having a Regency-era country house murder mystery take place in Italy is a nice shake-up of the usual formula, since it lets Ross bring in elements of contemporary Austrian/Italian politics to add complicating factors. This wasn't a bad wintry holiday read. That said, parts of the plot/exposition/reveal are lumpier than needs be, and the core romantic relationships both fail to convince and feel like they belong to a book written much earlier than the '90s. ( )

This was definitely bittersweet! I think this was Ross's best book to date but it was also tragically, her last! We learned so much more about Julian in this story that I know she must have had big plans for his character going forward. Its unfortunate that her life and writing was cut so short. Im going to miss Julian and Ross's stories! Rest in Peace Kate Ross!! ( )

I had mixed feelings over this mystery, first off, it was very clever and I did not guess in a million years who Orfeo really was, so it had me there! But, there were some areas of the book that dragged. Julian doesn't even enter the scene until Part II, after the entire first part leading up to the murder of the marchese. I did find myself getting a bit bogged down with all the Italian characters and wondering why this, why that, but by the end it all made sense. About the end, well, I think about 25 pages could have been edited out . The entire ending and wrap up just seemed to go on forever! Once we knew the truth and all secrets revealed, she should have wrapped it up. Still, I thought it was very good overall, and I'm sorry we lost such a fine author in the late Kate Ross. This is a wonderful, thoughtful series for fans of historical mysteries.

3.5/5 ( )

In this 4th (and sadly last) entry in the Julian Kestrel series, Julian visits Lombardy. I found the setting fascinating! If you like historical fiction, read this! ( )

Kate Ross was one of the finest historical mystery writers ever. A tragic loss for her to die at only age 42. The hero, Julian Kestrel, is a great character - not your standard tall, rich, handsome hero that clutters up the historical romance shelves. ( )