Reviewed by Mel Keegan

Here’s an intriguing story, new from Lillibridge Press, with quite enough weird developments to keep the reader turning pages till the end. A Violin's Cry by Joseph Cox is a quick read, at about ten thousand words, and part of me wishes it had been developed into a longer piece. However, I do know that readers in this “smartphone age” of ours prefer it when plots unfold in a kind of graphic shorthand, and Joseph Cox did quite a good job of compressing a complex denouement into a small space … for two bucks, it’s also great value for money.

Without giving plot spoilers, A Violin’s Cry is a ghost story. It’s the tale of a haunting in which the deceased is intent upon revenge … and I can’t say much more without telling you who dunnit, and even why, which is the last thing you want to read here!

The story begins with a strange, howling, screaming note issuing from a violin which has just lately been repaired. It was found, broken, at the swinging feet of an apparent suicide. Now, fully restored, it lives on its stand in the apartment of the suicide's bereaved lover … and the instrument has begun to howl in the night, screaming for attention.

This is the “hook” for the story, and it’s a good one. The plot unfolds rapidly enough to please the modern reader in search of a swift read, and comes to a somewhat violent conclusion.There’s nothing explicit in the tale; the gay romance is told purely anecdotally, in retrospect. The suspense level is high enough to carry the mystery, and the characters are quite well drawn, given the limited amount of space available for development in this format of storytelling.

Joseph Cox has a clear, no-frills writing style, well suited to the tense, tight narrative line. I’d like to see what he could do with a fully-fledged story. Certainly, A Violin’s Cry had the “meat” to have been several times longer -- and this would have allowed for more exploration of the story’s epilog-style tag (which I felt needed a bit more). However, the terse epilog is perfectly in keeping with quick-read model which is so prevalent in e-fiction today: Cox kept a tight rein on it, permitting no wasted word.

I believe this is Joseph Cox’s debut story. The writer will be one to watch in future.

10,000 words for $2! Good value.