Crime Writer

Despite a flourishing career as a musicologist, Roz Southey has always hankered to be a novelist.

‘I’ve been scribbling stories since I was a child,’ she says, ‘and have written and published many short stories and articles published over the years. But having a novel published has always been my dream. And I have material for lots more!’

Roz spends much of her working life researching the lives of 18th century musicians and writing extensively about them – some of the stories she has uncovered form the basis for her novel.

She is an acknowledged expert on the period and brings the period and its idiosyncratic characters to vivid life in her first published crime novel.

Chords and Discords

A second adventure for 18th century musician/sleuth, Charles Patterson

Music may be the food of love, but it doesn’t fill an empty belly … Winter is not a good time for jobbing musicians in early 18th century Newcastle. The town has emptied for the season, and Charles Patterson, harpsichordist, concert arranger and tutor to the gentry, is down to his last few shillings. But Patterson has another talent: solving mysteries. When an unpopular organ builder thinks his life is in danger and a shop-boy dies in dubious circumstances, the offer of a substantial fee persuades him to seek answers to some difficult questions. Like, who stole the dancing-master’s clothes? Why is a valuable organ up for raffle? And will Patterson escape whoever is trying to kill him? To read an extract from Chords and Discords Click Here

Published 3 July 08
Crème de la Crime
ISBN: 0978-09557078-2-7
Paperback original

Broken Harmony

The 18th century – a different world. But theft, murder and blackmail never change.

In Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1730s, life is not easy for an impoverished musician. For Charles Patterson, violinist, harpsichord player, composer and would-be church organist, it’s about to get a whole lot harder. First he is accused of stealing a valuable book. Then a cherished violin belonging to his flamboyant rival, Henri le Sac, disappears, rapidly followed by le Sac himself. And when the young apprentice he inherited from his rival is gruesomely murdered, Patterson starts to feel out of his depth. Strange goings-on at the home of capricious Lady Anne leave him in fear for his health and sanity, and the lady’s cousin, Esther Jerdoun, seems to be trying to warn him about something. The mystery deepens as the death toll mounts and it becomes clear that things are not quite as they appear …

Published April 2007.
Crème de la Crime
ISBN: 978-0-9551589-3-3
Paperback original