Amateur pianist Nate is gazing up at Vancouver's newest luxury building, the Keynote, when Beethoven bumps into him. Not the real Beethoven - someone in a costume. And not by accident. It's a cleverly concealed robbery: Beethoven has just stolen Nate's wallet.

The day turns up-tempo when Nate gets an exciting offer to perform all summer in the Keynote courtyard. Opportunity is knocking and he answers with enthusiasm. But he soon finds the place is rife with costumed Beethovens, not to mention protesters angry about high rents and renovictions. Nate's efforts to discover the light-fingered Ludwig become a lot more discordant than he expected.

Melanie Jackson plays piano with a lot of enthusiasm and little training, just like Nate. Melanie modelled a character in The Fifth Beethoven who is on the autism spectrum after her broth?er. Melanie has written numerous popular books for young people, including several in the best-selling Orca Currents series, and plans to write many more. Melanie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.