PRELUDE TO MURDER

An opera becomes the scene of real-life murder in Miner’s musical mystery sequel.

Young violinist Julia Kogan is thrilled when she’s offered the position of concertmaster at the Santa Fe Opera’s production of Alban Berg’s dramatic opera Lulu. The violin solos are notoriously difficult, but she’s happy to take a break from her regular job at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, where she recently helped solve the murder of her beloved mentor and conductor, Abel Trudeau (in 2022’s Aria for Murder). Accompanied by her boyfriend, New York City police officer Larry Somers, she’s enthralled by the beauty of New Mexico and intrigued by Native American artifacts. However, she finds the opera company to be full of petty jealousies, and she becomes anxious about a shadowy, elusive figure whom some of her fellow musicians believe is the ghost of the opera’s founder, John O’Hea Crosby. The violent themes of Berg’s opera overlap with real life when the volatile and high-strung Italian diva Emilia Tosti is discovered stabbed to death backstage—and Julia’s friend Marin Crane is found holding the knife. Now the whole company—singers, orchestra members, stagehands, and directors—come under suspicion as Santa Fe police detective Stella Peregrine sorts through their tangled relationships and the complex history of the opera company. Julia and Larry must prove Marin’s innocence and find the real culprit. Miner, who is a former longtime violinist for the Metropolitan Opera, presents an insider’s knowledge of operas and opera companies that enhances this delightful mystery. It features a compelling plot and intriguing characters, and readers are certain to appreciate the book’s beautiful evocation of Santa Fe’s haunted landscape (“the mountains glowing in the distance, the iridescent sunset, and the crescent moon floating among the stars when the sky turned inky black”). They’re also likely to enjoy the author’s clever combination of the opera Lulu with the events of the mystery.

A skillfully written whodunit of operatic proportions.