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.

Sword and Song

Musician-sleuth Charles Patterson is called to a suspected murder late one night and is horrified to find he knows the victim, a young street-girl.

There is little Patterson can do; his patron has arranged an engagement for him at a fashionable house party some miles away, and he must leave early next morning. But where Patterson goes, trouble is never far behind. A chance meeting with an American at an elegant house party raises new questions about the murder – then he is attacked twice for no apparent reason. And his personal life, in the form of Esther Jerdoun, the wealthy woman he loves against all of society’s conventions, is becoming ever more complicated… To read an extract from Sword and Song Click Here

Published July 2009
Crème de la Crime
ISBN: 978-0-9560566-2-7
Paperback original

Secret Lament

Italian actors.

French spies.

At least the thugs are English.

Charles Patterson is not happy. It's the hottest June for years; he's stuck in musical rehearsals with a family of Italians; some local ruffians are after his blood; and someone is trying to break into the house of Esther Jerdoun, the woman he loves. When a murder is discovered he fears Esther may be next. It's time for some tough questions. Who is the strange man masquerading under a patently false name? Are there really spies abroad in Newcastle? Why is a psalm-teacher keeping vigil over a house in the town? And can Patterson find the murderer before he strikes again?

Published May 2009
Crème de la Crime
ISBN: 978-0-9557078-6-5
Paperback original

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