Coffee & Cookie Time

This is a collection of 3 short stories by John Hartig. The first is a novella about the unfortunate murder of Jean-Marie Leclair, one of the best violinists and composers of the Baroque period in France. He was stabbed to death in 1764, right in front of his own house. The killer could have been his nephew, a mediocre violinist who wanted his uncle to promote him before the court of Louis XV. It could also have been the ex-wife, Louise Roussel, who was an engraver and published Leclair's musical manuscripts, thus making money off him. The second story is about the Battle of the Violins, which is a science fiction yarn about time travel, where Captain James Kirk is assigned to bring 6 of history's best violinists back to the future for a fiddle contest to see who is the best player of all time. Jean-Marie Leclair is, of course, one of the contestants, that is before he was killed. The last story is about the terrible time Saint Peter has in front of the Pearly Gates with crowd control. He really needs an administrative assistant as violinists and Pope Clement storm the Pearly Gates. Get a ticket, and get in line, says the keeper of the keys. These short stories make great reading for coffee and cookie time