Lost Stradivarius
The Lost Stradivarius is a short Victorian ghost story by John Meade Falkner, the English writer better known for the adventure novel Moonfleet. First published in 1895, it is told largely through letters and follows a young Oxford man who discovers a hidden violin and a haunting piece of music that seems to summon a presence from the past. As he plays the tune, its hold over him deepens. It is a compact, atmospheric tale of obsession and the supernatural, closer to a long candlelit anecdote than a sprawling novel, and it rewards a single evening's reading.