Gerritsen, Tess. Playing with Fire. Random House, 2015.

Julia, an accomplished violinist, picks up a very old book of gypsy melodies while she is in Italy for a performance. She finds a handwritten piece of music tucked in the book and is entranced by the melody. But the first time she plays the music at home, she looks up from her playing to find a dead cat and her three-year old covered in blood. Julia is convinced the music has something to do with this, and she will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of this mystery.

In alternating sections we also learn about Lorenzo, a young Italian Jew who is also an accomplished musician. As the second world war begins to seize Europe, Lorenzo and his family find themselves in danger, but they refuse to leave their homeland even if departure would ensure their safety.

These two stories meet in the final chapters of this book. While different from the Rizzoli and Isles novels, this is still an excellent read and definitely worth checking out.

Read-Alikes: [b:All the Light We Cannot See|18143977|All the Light We Cannot See|Anthony Doerr|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413166411s/18143977.jpg|25491300], [b:Echo|22749539|Echo|Pam Muñoz Ryan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409185262s/22749539.jpg|42294915], [b:Sing You Home|8554005|Sing You Home|Jodi Picoult|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347775953s/8554005.jpg|10809193]

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.

Playing with Fire is a fast-paced read. The story has two separate timelines, the first of which is set around WWII. The characters are pretty dimensional - I emotionally reacted to their circumstances in both timelines. The thought patterns are plausible and realistic, making for a gripping ride. I wish I could hear the violin piece.




ALERT - SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!!

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I thought there was going to be a paranormal element, but one wasn't present at all. It made for a somewhat jarring reading experience, but it didn't ruin the book.

A stand alone book by one of my favorite series writers, of course I will read it. I was loving it right up until some far fetched heroics were used to wrap up the ending. What a way to ruin a story.

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I have never read anything by Tess Gerristen before but saw Playing With Fire on NetGalley and decided to check her work out, after all, she is the author behind the Rizzol and Isles series and that’s another long set of thriller fiction on my to-read list. But for now the standalone suspense novel seemed like a nice tester, and on the whole, it worked well, with a fairly solid narration along with a pace that kept me hooked from start to finish.

The book itself has an interesting mystery at its heart as it asks and answers the question, What if your Child wanted you dead? The unfortunate soul in question is Julia, who is worried what might happen to Lily and despite thinking that she knows what’s caused it, she knows that she won’t be believed. What follows is a quest to find the answers alone that will take her to Venice, as the mysteries and secrets start to unravel, pulling back to reveal a tragedy of devastation.

It’s an interesting concept and I love thrillers that use continental Europe as a backdrop and Playing With Fire allowed us to explore Venice pretty well. The author makes use of two split point of view characters to weave two different stories set in completely different eras. Of course there’s the obvious one of Julia in the United States, but then there’s also Lorenzo, the Italian. It could have been awkward to follow due to how different the two narrations are, and there was a strong potential for the reader to become lost. Whilst they are handled well however for the most part I found the ending to be a tad underwhelming, and wished it could have been executed a bit better, as some questions are left unanswered.

Aside from the ending though which also felt a bit rushed, Playing With Fire remains a mostly solid read. Julia and Lorenzo are effective characters and the backdrop and concept is a fun one. It’s certainly got me interested in reading more of Tess Gerristen’s work and I’d love to check out her other fiction at some point. Fans of the author and those who enjoy good crime mysteries should enjoy Playing With Fire, which makes use of its multiple narrators as well as a slightly historical fiction element to weave a complex standalone novel.

VERDICT: 7/10

Interesting story of music, mental illness, and the horrors of the Holocaust in Italy.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

I couldn't put this down! Normally I'm not a fan of historical fiction, but I found this to be really interesting; I never realized how large a role Italy played in the Holocaust. I also liked how smoothly it transitioned between WWII and the present day. My only small complaints were that the dialogue was a little weak in spots, and I wish it were longer!

Not what I expected, after having read A LOT of Tess Gerritsen's books. I usually like dual-timeline storytelling, but this one didn't really catch me. I missed the medical mystery / crime solving aspect of her usual work. Though I did appreciate the historical notes at the end of the book, placing the events and characters in reality.

Another excellent book from Tess Gerritsen. The characters were excellent and the story between Lorenzo and Laura is wonderfully written. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of Playing With Fire from NetGalley in return for an honest review.