Spur of the Moment

February 1, 2016
Aging British opera singer Renata Radleigh, the heroine of this overly complicated series launch from Linzee (Housebreaker), has joined the St. Louis Opera, whose director of development is her younger brother, Don Radleigh. Don has landed a major gift from Helen Stromberg-Brand, a renowned medical scientist, and her husband, Bert. Then Bert returns home late one night to find Helen lying on their living room floor with her head bashed in. When Bert claims that Don was having an affair with his wife, Don becomes the primary suspect in Helen’s murder. With no support from the opera company, Renata sets out to clear her brother’s name. The action slowly picks up once Renata joins forces with medical writer Peter Lombardo, and they suspect that Helen’s death was connected to a valuable vaccine that she and Keith Bryson, the Stromberg-Brands’ billionaire business partner, planned to market. Insights into the opera world and what it’s like to be a British expat in America make up only in part for a routine mystery.

April 1, 2016

Renata Radleigh used to be somebody in the opera world. Now, she makes her living as a journeywoman, moving among opera companies during the season and teaching piano at her home in London to fill in the budgetary gaps. Currently, she is singing with the St. Louis Opera Company where her brother, Don, is the finance manager. When Don is accused of having a liaison with a major donor, Dr. Helen Stromberg-Brand, and then killing her to cover up the affair, Renata is the only person who is convinced of Don's innocence. She has to work with a charming PR flack, Peter Lombardo, to exonerate Don. VERDICT Who knew life in an opera company was so cutthroat? Not to mention the greed and deceit involved in Big Pharma? Linzee (Infamous St. Louis Crimes and Mysteries) has written an entertaining mystery, full of intriguing backstage details about opera productions and introducing an appealing heroine who is feisty, funny, and deeply loyal to her shallow sibling. Recommend for fans of Blair Tindall's memoir Mozart in the Jungle and anyone who enjoys crime served up with an aria.

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