Death At The Opera

By John Gano

When a travelling opera troupe visit stately Bolitho Court to raise money for the local hospice, few in the audience can imagine the seething cauldron of suppressed violence that lies beneath the greasepaint smiles.

After a month on the road together, fraught with sexual and musical rivalries, the pressure has become unbearable for more than one among the company of nine. Not so surprising in a troupe which includes the volcanic prima donna Maria, dark and predatory, her slight, fair-haired rival, the enigmatic Isabelle, the professionally and sexually harassed musical director George and the unpredictable Rupert, barely in control of his escalating drink problem.

When death comes, it seems almost inevitable – until the second body is found…

John Gano was a criminology expert known for the authenticity of his novels. He specialized in law at Cambridge and spent several years visiting people in prison, giving him first-hand knowledge of life on the “inside”. Gano was the author of the Inspector Proby mystery series and two opera mysteries: Death at the Opera and Arias of Blood, in which he combines his two favourite subjects – crimes and opera.