Masquerade with Music

By Mary Burchell

The great conductor Oscar Warrender had no idea that his efficient new secretary Kate Grayson was in fact his niece, who really wanted to be a singer but didn’t want to take advantage of her famous relative.

The celebrated singer Carlo Ertlinger took her under his wing instead-but will his guidance wreck her private life in the process?

Mary Burchell was the pen name of Ida Cook (1904-1986). With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook, she attended the Duchess’ School in Alnwick. Together, the sisters helped 29 Jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida’s writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel. Mary Burchell published more than 125 romance novels in total and helped found the Romantic Novelists’ Association, standing as its president from 1966 until her death.