Scroll and Curl

Fiddler Dan Munroe buys a unique fiddle at a sidewalk sale in New York and hears the story of the previous owners entanglement with the underworld of the 1930s. After he gets the special fiddle appraised by a reclusive dealer in Pennsylvania, dangerous and mysterious forces curl and swirl through his life.

As the grandson of a noted Heldeberg Mountain fiddler, and a master luthier (stringed instrument repairman), author John Pedersen portrays the touring string band life, based on hard-won first-hand knowledge, about the shifting nature of relationships and the dynamics of people on the road, whose main connection to each other is the music. Buying and selling rare musical items has also given him insight into the eclectic and occasionally bizarre world of instrument buyers and collectors. The patrons of his store, run with his wife Judy, range from limos full of rock stars to the lowliest of street people, and everyone in between. As a musician, John has won many fiddle contests, playing in the ôold timeö style, as well as the California State Old Time Banjo championships in 2007. This is his first novel.