Music as grace notes in James Ziskin's Ellie Stone novels

HALLIE EPHRON: When I first heard about James Ziskin's Ellie Stone novels, he had a new one out which was set in Hollywood in the 1960s, I knew I had to meet him. I grew up in Hollywood in the 60's and I'd set my latest novel there, too. He was getting an amazing reception to the series--his books have won the Anthony and Macavity awards, and been finalists for Lefty, Edgar, and Barry Awards. Not too shabby! I just finished reading the latest, TURN TO STONE (launching June 21) and it's simply terrific.

So I'm delighted to welcome him to Jungle Red, and have him weigh in on music, and the role it plays in the Ellie Stone novels.

JAMES ZISKIN: I write a series of traditional mysteries set in the early 1960s, featuring plucky young newspaper reporter Ellie Stone. Since the first book, music has played a supporting role in all the stories. Not necessarily front and center, but important just the same. Whether it’s a clue tied to some classical records maliciously shattered in STYX & STONE, or simply Ellie’s uncanny ability to name a piece of music at the drop of a needle, you’ll always find music in an Ellie Stone mystery. It’s no different in the seventh installment, TURN TO STONE, coming out January 21, 2020.
Ellie moves around quite a bit. That’s because she’s living and working in an upstate New York mill town and I wanted to avoid Cabot Cove syndrome. You know, that disorder characterized by too many murders in a small village? Ellie has solved crimes in her adopted upstate home of New Holland, New York City, the Adirondacks, Los Angeles, Saratoga Springs, and now—in TURN TO STONE—Florence, Italy.

It’s September 1963. Ellie is in Florence to attend an academic symposium honoring her late father. Just as she arrives on the banks of the Arno, however, she learns that her host, Professor Alberto Bondinelli, has drown in the river under suspicious circumstances. Then a suspected rubella outbreak leaves Ellie and nine of the symposium participants quarantined in villa outside the city with little to do but tell stories to entertain themselves. Making the best of their confinement, the men and women spin tales and gorge themselves on fine Tuscan food and wine until the quarantine can be lifted. And as they do, long-buried secrets about Bondinelli rise to the surface, and Ellie must figure out if one or more of her companions is capable of murder.

That’s the setup. But what about the music? I’m just getting to that. Since Ellie is in Italy, there’s bound to be Italian music. Let’s take the pieces mentioned in the book in order.

1. Ellie writes in her preamble to the story that Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Andy Williams, and Petula Clark all had hits in Italy in 1963. And they sang those songs in Italian. 

2. The first song that appears in the book is an anti-fascist anthem of sorts, “Bella ciao!” The song has its roots in the nineteenth century as a folk song, but was adopted and adapted during the Second World War by the partisans and the anti-fascist resistance that sprang up in 1943-44. It’s a catchy tune and an enduring song of protest and rebellion. Have a listen.

Here are the words to the first stanza and refrain:

Una mattina mi son alzato,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao!
Una mattina mi son alzato
e ho trovato l'invasor.

O partigiano portami via,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
o partigiano portami via
che mi sento di morir.

One morning I awakened,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
One morning I awakened
And I found the invader.

Oh partisan carry me away,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching

3. “Volare.” Lucio Bevilacqua is the adorable Marxist, one of the ten academics trapped by the quarantine. And he’s the one who plays the guitar. Not many complete songs, mind you, as he never seems satisfied with the tuning of his strings. After he plays “Bella ciao,” which is not well received by those with different political persuasions, Lucio tries to lower the political tensions by playing “Volare.” Everyone groans at the overplayed hit, and Lucio abandons the song halfway through.

4. Throughout the book, Lucio spends a lot of time flirting good-naturedly with Ellie. His courting usually takes the form of a theatrical serenade on bended knee. And the love ballades are always taken from Italian pop songs of the era.

“Eri un’abitudine, dolcissima abitudine, che vorrei reprendere per sognar” (This is the Italian version of “Can’t Get Used to Losing You.”)

“Mi sono inamorato di te” (I’ve fallen in love with you.)

“La ragazza del mio cuore sei” (The girl of my heart is you.)

“Non dimenticar che t’ho voluto tanto bene” (Don’t forget that I loved you so.) This is the Italian version of a song made famous by Nat King Cole.

5. When the quarantined residents tell their stories for entertainment, Lucio is there to accompany them on his guitar. For the tale about a Jew who considers—then rejects—converting to Christianity, Lucio spontaneously strums a tune that Ellie recognizes as part of the third movement of Mahler’s first symphony, the “Titan.” It’s a distinctly Jewish theme, a jaunty bit that makes you want to dance. For the first time, she’s impressed by his considerable talent and wit.

6. Professor Bondinelli’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Mariangela, arrives at the villa from her school in England, and Ellie takes her under her wing. The two discuss photography, the losses of their fathers, and music. Now, this is late September 1963, and Mariangela—like many girls her age in the UK—is crazy about the Beatles. Of course they Beatles were virtually unknown in the US until a couple of months later.

Mariangela and Ellie manage to scare up a portable record player at the villa, and the girl treats Ellie to her favorite three songs in the world: “Ask Me Why,” “Please Please Me,” and “She Loves You.” With the pure, unbridled enthusiasm of youth, Mariangela plays the songs over and over, and Ellie indulges her her passion, especially in light of the recent loss of her father.

Why do I include so much music in my books? I’ll answer that with the very same Shakespeare quote that Ellie butchers above. He said it better than I could ever hope to.

“The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.”
(The Merchant of Venice, 5.1.91-7)


TURN TO STONE launches January 21, 2020. Available in bookstores, libraries, and popular online portals.
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Barnes & Noble

James W. Ziskin, Jim to his friends, is the author of the seven Ellie Stone mysteries. His books have been finalists for the Edgar, Anthony, Barry, Lefty, and Macavity awards. His fourth book, Heart of Stone, won the 2017 Anthony for Best Paperback Original and the 2017 Macavity (Sue Feder Memorial) award for Best Historical Mystery. He’s published short stories in various anthologies and in The Strand Magazine. Before he turned to writing, he worked in New York as a photo-news producer and writer, and then as director of NYU’s Casa Italiana. He spent fifteen years in the Hollywood postproduction industry, running large international operations in the subtitling and visual effects fields. His international experience includes two years working and studying in France, extensive time in Italy, and more than three years in India. He speaks Italian and French. Jim can be reached through his website www.jameswziskin.com or on Twitter @jameswziskin.

HALLIE: What Jim didn't talk about is ITALY! Turn To Stone is nearly as much fun as taking the trip to Florence yourself. But since he's talking about music, my mind wanders to the authors for whom music is a central part of their stories. And of course Deborah Crombie, for sure. And Ian Rankin. And of course Colin Dexter's opera-loving Inspector Morse.

And I want to hear about his years in Italy, because it's so clear that his view of it (not to mention his accent) belies an insider's perspective.

Hooray for James Ziskin and Ellie Stone!

INGRID THOFT

It would require a separate blog entry to list the accolades garnered by James Ziskin's Ellie Stone series, but let's start with nominations for Edgar, Barry, Anthony, and Lefty Awards.  The latest installment, Cast the First Stone, will be released next week and is receiving rave reviews (including my own).  I'm thrilled that Jim could stop by to tell us about Ellie's latest adventure and answer your questions.

INGRID: Let's talk about your main character, Ellie Stone.  What inspired you to write a female character based in the 1960’s?

JIM: Through the first five novels, Ellie is a twenty-something woman in 1960-62. She was born in 1937 into a cultured, academic family in Manhattan. A series of family tragedies has left her the last Stone standing. She now works for a small-town daily newspaper in upstate New Holland, New York, where she must use her guile to do a man’s job while wearing a skirt. She’s not consciously aware of blazing any trails for women; she just wants a career that doesn’t come with a boss’s hand on the rear.

I wanted to make things as interesting and as tough as I could for my fictional newspaper reporter. Constant, regular challenges and conflict. That's part of the reason why I chose to write a female character set in the not-too-distant past. The early 1960s interested me because of the moment in history. We were entering a new decade that would bring political upheaval, war, the women’s movement, and the sexual revolution. But the Ellie Stone books predate those cultural seisms by a few years. Ellie’s both a witness and a catalyst in a changing world, one drink and one man at a time.

IPT: What do readers think about Ellie? 

JWZ: People seem to react to her better and better as the series progresses, perhaps because they’re getting to know her. It’s always a challenge when you introduce new characters. It takes some time for readers to feel comfortable with them, especially if you take some chances. Sometimes writers overreach and try to cram too much personality or backstory or description into the first pages of a new series.  Of course, in the best of all worlds, the writer achieves the perfect balance, and character and reader hit it off instantly.

But the most consistent feedback I get from readers about Ellie is that they love her spirit. She’s tough without being harsh. Wickedly funny and passionately empathetic at the same time. And they worry about her. She has some “bad” habits—drinking, smoking, putting herself at risk. And, of course, men. Readers often wish she’d be more careful. I think that’s great. It means they care about her. But I like to ask readers, “Do you wish Jack Reacher would take fewer chances?”

IPT: Bravo to that question!  Can you tell me about your time working in the film industry?  Has that played a role in your writing?

JWZ: My time in Hollywood was on the post-production side, specifically subtitling, translation, and visual effects. We translated and subtitled thousands of films and television shows (from Citizen Kane to Duck Dynasty) into as many as fifty languages. All of it contributed to my understanding of storytelling. One thing I realized early on was to appreciate the work screenwriters did, even on a bad movie. The screenplay made sense of the story.

I confess, however, that I did not learn about scriptwriting in any traditional sense. At least not the three-act structure people talk about. For my purposes, I call that “beginning, middle, and end.” It’s something I feel intuitively when telling a story, and I try not overthink it.

Translation, too, teaches valuable lessons about narration. Finding the right words, telling the story succinctly, reducing to the bare minimum without losing the essentials of the plot and the characters. And that goes for visual effects as well. There’s a visual lexicon in film that can be applied to description and action in fiction as well. Visualizing a scene helps me construct my narrative.

IPT: What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?

JWZ: How quickly one book turns into five with a sixth in progress. If you take it professionally, you’ll be surprised how productive you can be.

And a couple of other things. One, how generous mystery writers are. I love meeting and talking to writers and readers, and worry that too many writers miss out on this perk. At conferences and readings, they might see someone who intimidates them, who looks too shy, and they avoid that person. I want to search out people like that. I’ve met some great friends in this industry that way, readers and writers. I’ve learned a lot from them. Received invaluable feedback and support. And thanks to the generosity of the “big” writers, you can approach them. Even the biggest names give generously of their time.

And two, I am appreciative and so impressed by the work publishers do. Editing, cover design, and publicity. Of course, I knew there were people who did those things. But when you actually witness it up close, it’s remarkable how good the final product turns out.

IPT: Is there a wannabe book lurking in the back of your brain?  Something you would write if you didn’t have to consider agents, editors, and fans?  A romance? Sci-fi?

JWZ: Well, actually, the Ellie Stone books were those wannabe books once upon a time. I didn’t know if anyone would want to read a 1960, twenty-something female newspaper scribbler written by a man of certain age. But I fell so hard for Ellie, I sensed others might too. She’s just so fun to write.

But I also have other ideas brewing. Lots of them. A couple of thrillers in particular. Not modern-day thrillers, but throwbacks to the 1970s. The Cold War provided a fantastic backdrop for stories, don’t you think? I particularly love Frederick Forsyth. And Graham Greene. I’d like to write like them. How’s that for aiming high?

Jim is giving away a copy of Cast the First Stone.  Just comment to enter!

CAST THE FIRST STONE
February 1962: Tony Eberle has just scored his first role in a Hollywood movie, and the publisher of his hometown newspaper in upstate New York wants a profile of the local boy who’s made good. Reporter Ellie Stone is dispatched to Los Angeles for the story. But when she arrives on set to meet her subject, Tony has vanished. His agent is stumped, the director is apoplectic, and the producer is dead. Murdered.

Ellie is on the story, diving headfirst into a treacherous demimonde of Hollywood wannabes, beautiful young men, desperately ambitious ingénues, panderers, and pornography hobbyists. Then there are some real movie stars with reputations to protect. To find the killer, Ellie must separate the lies from the truth, unearthing secrets no one wants revealed along the way. But before she can solve Bertram Wallis’s murder, she must locate Tony Eberle.


James Ziskin (Jim to his friends) is the author of the Edgar-, Anthony-, Barry-, and Lefty-nominated Ellie Stone Mysteries. A linguist by training, James studied Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his graduate degree, he worked in New York as a photo-news producer and writer, and then as Director of NYU’s Casa Italiana. He spent fifteen years in the Hollywood post production industry, running large international operations in the subtitling/localization and visual effects fields. His international experience includes two years working and studying in France, extensive time in Italy, and more than three years in India. He speaks Italian and French. James lives in Seattle. He’s represented by William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates, Inc.