Death of a Soprano: New Mystery
Death of a Soprano: A Joseph Haydn Mystery by Nupur Tustin
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Death of a Soprano
When murder invades Haydn’s opera stage, scandal isn’t far behind . . .
Charged with ensuring that an imperial wedding transpires without mishap, composer Joseph Haydn has his hands full. Barely seventeen, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, the imperial bridegroom, is reluctant to marry. And the bride, Maria Beatrice, has her reservations as well.
But when an extortion note surfaces—an unpleasant reminder of the bridegroom’s shameful past—the wedding seems truly doomed. Worse still, all the evidence points to Haydn’s prima donna, Lucia Pacelli, being the blackmailer.
Before Haydn can confront her, however, Lucia is fatally poisoned. And Haydn is left to wonder whether his imperial charge had a hand in her death.
Troubled by the dark secrets he might uncover, Haydn is nevertheless compelled to investigate. Will the young Archduke be found innocent? Or must Haydn lead His Imperial Highness to the gallows?
“Tustin’s intricate plotting . . . kept me in exquisite suspense. “-Words and Reviews
“If you love historical settings . . . this one is for you!”-Nellie’s Book Nook
Death of a Soprano: A Joseph Haydn Mystery [image error]
Historical Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – Eighteenth-century Royal Hungary, Habsburg Empire
Foiled Plots Press (May 27, 2023)
Print length : 319 pages
ASIN : B0C3SR4GGW
To purchase Death of a Soprano, click on any of the following links: Nupur Tustin, Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo.
Read an excerpt:
Death of a Soprano
Haydn’s youngest brother, Johann, ushers the barber-surgeon in to examine Lucia. Is there any hope for her? Unfortunately not. But there’s worse. . .
“The room, I fear, is in disarray,” Johann said apologetically, gingerly skirting around the pile of clothes.
“It is no matter, Master Johann.” Herr Hipfl had stopped before the heap of clothing and regarded the pile, amused. “I have seen far worse. The dead have no time to tidy up.”
“The dead?” Johann repeated, surprised. Was Lucia’s state that obvious? He’d been deliberately vague, not wanting to prejudice the barber-surgeon’s judgment. Who knew, the woman might still have life in her. Stranger things had happened.
Suppressing his distaste, he stooped down to gather up the clothing, clearing the barber-surgeon’s path.
Herr Hipfl stepped forward. His halo of unruly, gray-black hair fanned out from his smooth, unlined features as he turned toward Johann.
“Her chest would rise and fall, were she alive, Master Johann.” He drew closer to the body and knelt down. “I should’ve thought you’d seen enough dead bodies to know that. But I suppose”—he took Lucia’s wrist, feeling for a pulse, Johann surmised—“only a medical man would be aware of such a thing.”
The barber-surgeon let Lucia’s limp wrist drop and proceeded to delicately press upon her chest. “As I suspected. Long gone.” He raised his eyes toward Johann. “I saw her clutch at her stomach just before she fell. Had she any ailments, you know of.”
Johann shook his head. “Nothing so grave as to suggest she was on the point of death. She did complain of biliousness and a cramp in the stomach. But sister-in-law’s teas always seemed to put her right.”
The barber-surgeon nodded. “Then she must have been with child.”
“With child?” Johann’s voice rose. “How—?”
Seeing Hipfl staring at him, he subsided. He had thought Paolo, her husband, incapable of fathering a child. If Lucia was with child—Johann’s horror-struck gaze fell upon the dead woman—whose was it?
The Archduke’s? From what brother had told him earlier that evening, it was entirely possible.
*** Excerpt from Death of a Soprano by Nupar Tustin. Copyright 2023 byNupar Tustin. Reproduced with permission from Nupar Tustin. All rights reserved.
Nupur Tustin, author of Death of a Soprano
A former journalist, Nupur Tustin relies upon a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate murder.
She also writes the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries based on the Gardner Museum theft.
Childhood piano lessons and a 1903 Weber Upright share equal blame for her musical works.
Get Two Complimentary Mysteries At: ntustin.com Music: ntustin.musicaneo.com
To learn more about Nupur, click on any of the following links: Website, Blog, Shop, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub.
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