Finnish Whodunnit? Society Journal, October, 2004
Does the plot flow and intensify? Are clues hidden between the lines? Is the reader rewarded? Yes, yes and yes!
Book Description
A crime thriller set in Helsinki with intriguing links to the music of Jean Sibelius. The novel's layout and structure are unusual, not being divided into 'chapters' as such, but into 'symphonies' & 'movements' — all of which match the sequence of the seven Sibelius symphonies with appropriate keys (E minor, D major, etc) and tempo markings (Andante, ma non troppo; Allegro energico; etc).
The novel employs a daring component of fact within the mainstream crime thriller story line. In each 'symphony-chapter', there is one murder, and one 'lecture' (a few pages long) about Sibelius and the correspondingly numbered symphony. The lectures are given at Helsinki’s Sibelius Music Academy by the Welsh musicologist father of the central character: Detective Inspector Miranda Lewis (who is Finnish born, in spite of her name).
A key concept throughout the novel and especially towards the end, where we are allowed into the mind of the killer, is the dangerous, potentially corrupting power of the male sex-drive. (And, to some extent, the differences between the male and female sex-drives). The novel also explores the moral questions of guilt & accountability.
Publisher comments
Previously published in Finland, June 2004, where it reached #4 in Finnish bestsellers list. Newly formatted International Edition released worldwide 10th February 2005.
About the author
Simon Boswell was born in Kingston, Surrey, UK, grew up in Bristol, and did a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at Birmingham University. He followed this with a University of Aston postgraduate Diploma in the Teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language, and has since lived in Finland working as an English teacher. He also studied composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara at the Sibelius Academy, where he now holds the full-time lectureship in English. For many years, his working life has been focused on developing and teaching music-related English courses for students at the Sibelius Academy, the Helsinki Conservatory, and Stadia Polytechnic College.
He has three children: Roy (21), Emily (19) & Daniel (5).
The Seven Symphonies is his first novel.
