A Fatal Overture
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
During the first winter of the twentieth century, Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane refuses to dim the lights on her dazzling show business career for marriage—even to a dashing British duke. But the versatile mezzo-soprano may have to put it all on the line once murder takes centerstage . . .
New York City, 1900. Renowned opera singer and theatre company owner Ella may have both much to gain and much to lose by getting engaged to her courtly long-distance love, Gil Saint Auburn. But there’s little time for romance or resolutions with Gil’s aristocratic mother and aunts visiting Greenwich Village—especially when the ladies discover a dead man in the bathtub of their hotel suite.
The victim’s disturbing background and subsequent demise at the elegant Waverly Place Hotel leave the group puzzled beyond the obvious certainty of an unnatural death. Adding to the confusion and mounting fear, danger explodes through Ella’s close-knit circle after a friend makes a stunning confession and Gil becomes a fresh target for violence.
Now, with a London tour run fast approaching, prenuptial worries weighing heavily on her heart, and an intricate Joan of Arc aria to rehearse, can Ella decide what she’s willing to sacrifice before confronting a relentless criminal bent on watching her entire life go up in smoke?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's January 1900 in Kalb's fast, fun third Ella Shane mystery (after 2021's A Fatal First Night), and New York City opera diva Ella is having a fencing lesson at her Washington Square townhouse when she receives a surprise visit from Flora Saint Aubyn, Countess of Blyth, accompanied by her equally noble sisters, Caledonia and Charlotte. Flora, the mother of Ella's suitor, Gilbert Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, has traveled from Britain to assure Ella that she would be delighted to welcome Ella into the family. After a splendid tea, the visitors depart for their nearby hotel. Shortly afterward, Ella receives a message from Flora: "An unfortunately dead man has appeared in the bathtub in our suite. We have called the police, but please do come if you can." The victim is Darren Eyckhouse, son of the owners of the hotel, who has been stabbed in the eye. Is Darren's murder connected to recent attempts on Gilbert's life? However, the real question is: will Ella accept Gil's proposal of marriage? This will appeal more to romance readers than to mystery fans.