The Violin Conspiracy

September 1, 2021

Asserting himself in a profession that has not proved accepting, Black classical violinist Ray McMillian is thrilled to learn that the instrument he plays--once his great-grandfather's--is actually an invaluable Stradivarius. He's devastated when it's stolen before the all-important Tchaikovsky Competition and further learns that descendants of the family that had enslaved his great-grandfather claim it's theirs. Slocumb knows his strings; an award-winning music educator, he has performed with numerous symphonies and serves as concertmaster for the NOVA Symphony Orchestra, serving Northern Virginia Community College.

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December 15, 2021
A classical musician tries to find his stolen violin in this entertaining debut novel. There are few worse nightmares for a musician than having a treasured instrument stolen. For Ray McMillian, the protagonist of Slocumb's debut, the theft of his violin is especially painful--not only was it a gift from his beloved grandmother, it's also a Stradivarius, one of the rarest instruments in the world. And it happens to be worth more than $10 million. Ray, a classical music phenom who's about to compete in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, discovers his violin has gone missing in his Charlotte, North Carolina, house; when he opens its case, he finds only a tennis shoe and a ransom note demanding $5 million in Bitcoin. He has a few suspects in mind, chief among them the members of two families: the Marks clan, who claim that Ray's great-great-grandfather, an enslaved person, took the violin from their ancestor; and his own family, a collection of grasping doubters who don't care much for Ray but do care about his valuable violin. Ray trusts only a few people, including his violist girlfriend, Nicole, and his "mentor, friend, and surrogate mother," Janice. Slocumb's novel is told in flashbacks, chronicling Ray's early years and fraught relationship with his uncaring mother and his ascent as a star violinist who takes America by storm. Ray, who is Black, has to deal with not only lawsuits from his family and the Marks family, but also with vicious racism from both inside and outside the music world: "No matter how nice the suit, no matter how educated his speech or how strong the handshake, no matter how much muscle he packed on, no matter how friendly or how smart he was, none of it mattered at all. He was just a Black person. That's all they saw and that's all he was." While the whodunit element of Slocumb's novel is unlikely to stump mystery fans, his writing is strong, if a little unpolished in parts. Still, it's a gripping novel, and Slocumb, himself a violinist, does an excellent job explaining the world of classical music to those who might be unfamiliar with it. A solid page-turner.

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December 20, 2021
Black violinist Ray McMillian, the hero of Slocumb’s gripping debut, receives a $5 million ransom demand for his Stradivarius violin after the instrument is stolen from his New York City hotel room a few weeks before he’s due to perform in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. When the police, the FBI, and the insurance company’s investigator hit dead ends, the case comes to a standstill. Flashback to Ray’s high school years in Charlotte, N.C., where he must deal with pervasive racism—and his mother nagging him to drop out and get a job. Meanwhile, his grandmother, who supports his musical aspirations, gives him her grandfather’s violin. At college, where he receives a full scholarship, Ray endures prejudice from fellow students, and a luthier repairing the heirloom discovers it’s a Stradivarius. This revelation leads members of the Marks clan, whose ancestors enslaved Ray’s ancestors, to claim the violin belongs to them. Legal battles over the violin’s ownership ensue. The tension builds as the competition looms, and Ray struggles to shake off doubts, not get caught in false leads, and focus on finding the missing violin. Slocumb sensitively portrays Ray’s resilience in the face of extreme racism. The author is off to a promising start. Agent: Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary Management.

Starred review from January 1, 2022
Violin prodigy Ray McMillian is preparing for the celebrated Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Two things make Ray unique among the competitors: like only 1.8 percent of musicians performing in classical symphonies, he is Black, and his violin, inherited from his great-great grandfather, who was enslaved on a North Carolina plantation, is a Stradivarius. In the course of this galvanizing blend of thriller, coming-of-age drama, and probing portrait of racism, we learn in flashback how Ray's relatives passed down a beat-up fiddle and how Ray, the first of his family to share his ancestor's love of music, came to learn of the instrument's provenance. But before all that, in the novel's opening pages, the violin is stolen. As Ray frantically works to recover it, he must also deal with being sued by members of his own family, who contest his belief that his grandmother gave the Stradivarius only to him, and by the descendants of the slave owners, who argue that Ray's relative stole the instrument. As Slocumb, himself a Black violinist, describes Ray's apprenticeship, always working ""twice as hard as his non-Black counterparts,"" we are drawn completely into this moving story of an unfettered love of music and a passionate commitment to performing it. Skillfully juggling his two timelines, Slocumb builds tension exquisitely while writing about music with both technical precision and richly evocative metaphors. This flawless debut will do for classical music what The Queen's Gambit did for chess.

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February 1, 2022

DEBUT Slocumb, a former principal violinist and concertmaster, manages a delicate balance in his debut. It is a heist story and also an exploration of hope and perseverance in a world that doesn't always reward such. Ray McMillian is a Black virtuoso violinist on the cusp of his biggest challenge yet--competing in a prestigious Russian competition that no American has won before--when his prized Stradivarius violin is stolen. Ray prizes the violin not for its monetary worth, but for the personal connection it gives him to his beloved grandmother. But to others, including Ray's family members and the descendants of the family that once enslaved Ray's ancestors, the violin represents a $10 million payout. Ray is left with is a ransom demand and the realization that no matter the loss, he must work toward winning the Tchaikovsky Competition. VERDICT This novel brings an unflinching eye to the sometimes-cutthroat world of classical music, its very white culture, and the challenges a talented young Black violinist might face in that world. But in Ray, a man who strives toward honor and kindness despite the racist acts (some of them violent) he endures, the story also finds its heart. Strongly recommended.--Jane Jorgenson

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