Scroll and Curl: An Oldtime Bluegrass Mystery

by John Pedersen

This novel is a chance to hang out in the mind of a champion fiddler and instrument maker, to chill in the heat of an intensely musical life. Scroll and curl, of course, refer to the aspects of a violin. Scroll and curl are plot dimensions as well, and relate to the life style of the characters presented.

430 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2008

Reviews

[Ron Ratchford · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Pedersen has written a mystery about a band on tour in the part of country where music is respected and kept alive by traveling along a zigzag route through the local hills to get from one venue ot another.
The fiddler of the band has acquired a fiddle at a garage sell event in New York City. The fiddle has a history and now he and his band members are part of the intrigue of those who want the fiddle for one reason or another. The fiddle mystery is a very good framework for the bigger picture of a group of people who have music and many years of playing together. During this tour they are also finding that there some parts that are not such a good fit. The humor and the irony of the various memmbers is a series of running jokes and situations.
The story is especially poserful in the descriptions of the music and the intent of the group to fulfill their various promises to their music and the life of traveling players.
I live in San Anselmo CA and was delignted to find several references to my present home town. The tour also drove through areas of my early life and arouse some fond memories of Saturday nights listening to the locals play.
This book also deals with the idea of finding and cherishing the music one may only hear played live and with the feeling of a lover of music at the instrument.
It is a treasure for me.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The discovery of an ancient violin from a famous maker adds spice to the tour of a bluegrass band travelling up and down the East coast of the United States. If one ever wondered what it would be like to tour with a band, this mystery gives one an idea of the range of situations and personalities one might meet on the road. Or not. That there would be intense interest in an old violin is just believable enough to keep us reading, but the antics of the musicians keep us amused. The mystery doesn't end until the last note is played, and we realize we've been taken for a wholly unbelieveable ride. The chapters are separated by short music scores, for those that can take a breather to dance it off. The author reads from his work on this youtube link.

[Pearl Meaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased "Scroll and Curl" at the International Bluegrass Music Museum. I play bluegrass fiddle, which is what attracted me to this book. It says on the cover, "an oldtime bluegrass mystery" and it is, but the mystery is slow in its progress. For me, for the first half of the book, there was too much about the band members and the various gigs and not enough about the mystery. The second half moved along much better.

That said, the characters and the various settings are interesting and well written and they mystery is an intriguing one.

Wish I played fiddle as well as Dan Munroe!