While in Rome giving a violin performance, Julia Ansdell searches for souvenirs to take home to Boston to her husband, Rob, and three-year-old daughter, Lily. At an antique shop, she finds an old book of music and a loose page falls out. The page is a handwritten composition titled "Incendia" by L. Todesco. Julia is drawn to the unusual notes and key of the waltz, and she cannot wait to play it.

However, the first time Julia plays "Incendia" at her home, her life turns into a nightmare. Lily reacts violently to the music, becoming a hurtful person Julia does not know. Since Julia is the only one who sees Lily this way, Rob is concerned about Julia's state of mind. Intent on proving she is not insane, Julia secretly travels to Venice to search for the origins of the music. The further she digs into the history of the composer, Lorenzo Todesco, and "Incendia," the more shocking facts she uncovers. It soon becomes evident someone does not want Julia to dig up the past, and she finds herself involved in a life-or-death situation.

PLAYING WITH FIRE is an exciting and masterfully devised stand-alone novel by Tess Gerritsen, well-known for her best-selling Rizzoli & Isles series. Thorough characterization and a gripping plotline steadily progress to an intriguing conclusion. Told from the separate views of Julia in the present day and Lorenzo in the early 1900s, Tess Gerritsen puts a very human face on the tragedy of Italian Jews at the beginning of the Holocaust. It has been a long time since a book has brought tears to my eyes, but PLAYING WITH FIRE did so. I highly recommend you read this remarkable novel.

Book Summary

A gripping standalone thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series
 
In a shadowy antiques shop in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious piece of music—the Incendio waltz—and is immediately entranced by its unusual composition. Full of passion, torment, and chilling beauty, and seemingly unknown to the world, the waltz, its mournful minor key, its feverish arpeggios, appear to dance with a strange life of their own. Julia is determined to master the complex work and make its melody heard.
 
Back home in Boston, from the moment Julia’s bow moves across the strings, drawing the waltz’s fiery notes into the air, something strange is stirred—and Julia’s world comes under threat. The music has a terrifying and inexplicable effect on her young daughter, who seems violently transformed. Convinced that the hypnotic strains of Incendio are weaving a malevolent spell, Julia sets out to discover the man and the meaning behind the score.
 
Her quest beckons Julia to the ancient city of Venice, where she uncovers a dark, decades-old secret involving a dangerously powerful family that will stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light.