A classically-trained musician, Brendan Slocumb has just published his first novel, The Violin Conspiracy, a page-turning mystery in which a young Black musical prodigy inherits a priceless Stradivarius only to have it stolen from his hotel room on the eve of performing at the world’s most prestigious music contest. Like his protagonist, Slocumb – an educational consultant for the Kennedy Center and the concertmaster for the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra – started playing violin at nine in a public schools music program, and has credited that experience for determining the shape of his life. “When my friends were out running the streets, I was in rehearsals,” he has said. “When they were breaking into houses, I was practicing Mozart or Dvorjak.” Below are Brendan Slocumb’s favorite books, available to purchase individually or as a set.