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Charles Patterson, a harpsichordist, is down to his last guinea in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne of February 1736 and has been mis-used by the gentry who control musical affairs in the city. He therefore feels unable to turn down the offer of rude and obnoxious organ builder William Bairstowe who wants Patterson to investigate a series of threats which he claims have been made to him. A young man was killed in Bairstowe's yard and although it has been described as an accidental death, Bairstowe is convinced that it was murder and that he was the intended target. Patterson's investigations lead him to a tangled plot and some of the city's most dangerous areas. He is fortunate that he can count on the assistance of his friend Hugh Demsey and also the rich Esther Jourdoun an older woman with whom Patterson is somewhat hopelessly in love. Well yes. That is one description of the book. But (and I am not making this up) CHORDS AND DISCORDS is set in a parallel universe in which when people die their spirit lingers on near the place of their demise for a period of 80 to 100 years (except for suicides who are tied to the exact spot of their death). Patterson has had the experience, in the first book in the series BROKEN HARMONY, of glimpsing another world (this one) in which there are no spirits and has even met his own 'counterpart' there. The spirits play a very active part in the story and can be alarming and evil or benign or sad. Southey uses considerable ingenuity to get round the fact that the existence of these spirits might be considered to be somewhat fatal to the whodunit formula. This format makes the book rather difficult to assess. I will commence by treating it as a conventional mystery. The sad thing about CHORDS AND DISCORDS it that actually has a pretty decent plot. It could not be described as stunning but is certainly easily good enough to sustain a mystery. As far as the historical setting is concerned the book could actually do, rather rarely among contemporary historical mysteries, with a bit more detail. Southey has selected a period and location which are very well-off the beaten track and I would have liked to know more about the society and politics of early 18th century Newcastle. The characterisation is adequate although Patterson is not the most exciting of first-person narrators. But the plot is good enough to sustain the book and while it could certainly not be described as brilliant it could be said to be a very readable mystery with an intriguing setting. However to assess the book solely in such terms is clearly to ignore the elephant in the room. The science-fiction or woo-woo element is so strong and ever-present that it cannot be ignored. The reader's reaction will depend on their tolerance of or liking for such elements and I am sure that there will be some who will be intrigued and fascinated. It cannot, I suppose, be denied that there is something original in the concept. If however, like me, you think that parallel worlds are best left in the comics then it is more likely that you will feel that it is a pity that Southey did not have the confidence in her setting and above all her plotting to leave CHORDS AND DISCORDS firmly in our own world.
Reviewed by Nick Hay, February 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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