THE BACKWARD REVIEWER
William F. Deeck


FRANCES FLETCHER – The Murder Sonata. Leisure Books, paperback original, 1980.

   Milton Schring sat in the solo chair of the symphony orchestra in an unnamed city. As well he should, since he was an immensely talented musician. Unfortunately, his private life is not exemplary, and after one performance — musical, though he was waiting to take part in another kind — he is found dead backstage.

   Interesting information here about symphony orchestras, their sponsors, their labor problems, and their individual members’ egos. Otherwise, not fair play and merely average in characterization and writing. “Damsel in distress” would sum it up.

— Reprinted from MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 1990, “Musical Mysteries.”


Bibliographic Note:   This will be brief. This is the only book in Hubin by Frances Fletcher, about whom nothing is known.