Cozy Up With Kathy: Death of a Soprano

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Death of a Soprano - An Excerpt & Giveaway

Today I'd like to share an excerpt from Death of a Soprano by Nupur Tustin. This book is the fifth in the Joseph Haydn Mystery series and was released last month.

Excerpt: When Haydn learns Lucia was poisoned, yet another suspect comes to mind. . .

“Poisoned?” Haydn missed a note in his astonishment. Fortunately, no one appeared to notice and the singers carried on uninterrupted. “How can Herr Hipfl possibly know that?”

“From the odor of her breath, the color of her eyes, and not least from the taste of her spittle,” Johann responded.

“But she has not ingested anything except—” Haydn swallowed, glancing over his shoulder at where his wife sat. The last thing Lucia had swallowed was the concoction Maria Anna had brewed for her.

A strange unease filled the pit of his stomach. Had Maria Anna let her jealousy get the better of her?

Surely not.

But would Herr Hipfl and the Bürgermeister see the situation the same way? It would not be the first time his wife had been accused of poisoning a woman.

“. . . the wine,” Johann was saying.

“What wine?” Haydn asked.

“The bottle of wine she had with her onstage,” Johann patiently replied. “Herr Hipfl surmises the poison was administered through the wine.”

“She had imbibed some?” If it was the wine, then Maria Anna could not be held responsible. Neither—Haydn glanced over his shoulder again—could the Archduke, fortunately.

Unless—an unhappy thought occurred to him. Had the Archduke prevailed upon Narcissa to carry on his dirty business? Heaven knew, she would be only too willing to do it.

Moreover, Rosalie had informed him, His Imperial Highness had sent Narcissa flowers that afternoon. To what end?

Haydn shook his head. No, no that was unlikely.

“Karl says it was half-empty when she went onstage.” Johann’s words interrupted his thoughts.

“What was—?” Haydn stopped himself just in time. Johann was referring to the wine bottle, of course. He hurriedly changed his question.

“Where is the bottle? Has Herr Hipfl taken charge of it?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his younger brother shake his head.

“Hannah carried the news of Lucia’s demise to the stagehands, and Fiore, hearing that the wine might have been tainted, emptied out the bottle.”

Dear Lord, had the boy no sense? Haydn couldn’t prevent an exasperated huff escaping his lips.

“He meant well,” Johann confided with a sigh. “He was worried lest someone else suffer the same fate. They’ve all apparently been chafing at the stricture to leave the wine alone.”

“And all except Lucia abided by the stipulation, I suppose?” Haydn said. He had no desire to think ill of the dead, but his prima donna had clearly possessed an inflated sense of her own importance.

“I’m afraid so.”

Haydn pursed his lips. Someone had known of Lucia’s partiality for wine and taken advantage of it. The question was who?

Narcissa?

She was onstage now, her features never far from a pout because she’d not succeeded in her mission to take over Lucia’s role.

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Death of a Soprano: A Joseph Haydn Mystery by Nupur Tustin

About Death of a Soprano

Death of a Soprano: A Joseph Haydn Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Setting – Eighteenth-century Royal Hungary, Habsburg Empire
Foiled Plots Press (May 27, 2023)
Print length: ‎ 319 pages

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?

About Nupur Tustin

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