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 marriageeven to a dashing British duke. But the versatile mezzo-soprano may have to put it all on the line once murder takes center stage in Kathleen Marple Kalbs theatrical third historical mystery set in 1900 New York City…
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 theres little time for romance or resolutions with Gils aristocratic mother and aunts visiting Greenwich Villageespecially when the ladies discover a dead man in the bathtub of their hotel suite.
The victims 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 Ellas 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 shes willing to sacrifice before confronting a relentless criminal bent on watching her entire life go up in smoke?
