Customer Reviews

Her Deadly Mischief: Baroque Mystery

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First Sentence: Did I lay eyes on the lovely Zulietta before she died?

It is opening night of a new opera and Tito Amato, Venice's premier castrato, is performing his first aria. It is cut short when he witnesses a struggle occurring in one of the boxes and a woman falls dead into the pit. As the only witness to her death, Tito becomes involved in finding her killer.

In an odd way, I loved the opening of this book. While it depicts the vanity and conceit of a premier opera star, it is often that, along with an excellent voice, which makes them such. However, we quickly move to the actual murder. Ms. Myers focuses on several layers of humanity and bigotry.

It is always difficult, but enlightening, for me to read how Jews lived and were treated through history in various countries. And yet, as Tito observes, "Venice treated her Jews well." Another bigotry on which Myers focused was in her comparison of Tito's being a castrato and Pamarino's dwarfism. Both were often ridiculed, yet both were capable of sharing the same passion and emotion as anyone else. When the head of the police put down the opera as not being a real job in the same sense as others, I appreciated Tito's defense of the contributions of the Opera to Venice and the sacrifices he personally had made, without and without his knowledge and consent.

We learned a bit more about the characters of Tito and his wife Liya, as well as being introduced to the wonderful character of Messer Andrea Grande, head of the police. Myers' descriptions of people and places are evocative, including the degrees of intensity of Venetian rain. I enjoyed the description of "The Colonies" and the opportunities felt to exist there.

The mystery was very well done. There were excellent twists and well as very good suspense and tension. The clue to the solution was there, one just had to realize it. Unfortunately, I did fairly early on, and that's what dropped the rating a bit for me.

Although the mystery is resolved, we are left with a bit of a character cliff hanger, but I can accept those. In fact, in this case, it does make me anxious for the next book.

HER DEADLY MISCHIEF (Hist. Mys-Tito Amato-Venice, Italy-1742) - VG+

Myers, Beverly Graves - 5th in series

Poisoned Pen Press, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN; 9781590582336

In 1742 castrato Tito Amato and company are performing Rossini's Armida at the Teatro San Marco. There is plenty of excitement in the air as this is opening night. However, as the opera is performed a frustrated Tito targets his voice at the rude spectators behind the closed curtained fourth-tier box owned by Alessio Pino, son of a master glassmaker. Tito feels better for a moment when the curtains open. However that nanosecond passes as a masked man is struggling with a woman before pushing her to her death.

The victim is popular but manipulative courtesan Zulietta Giardino, a conniving courtesan. Tito is the sole witness and explains to the Venetian constabulary head Messer Grand that he saw a very tall masked person push Zulietta. That night he tells his Jewish wife Liya, disowned by her family, what he witnessed. The married couple investigates as does Grand, but many diverse suspects surface including one who kidnaps their son.

The latest Baroque historical mystery (see THE IRON TONGUE OF MIDNIGHT, PAINTED VEIL, INTERRUPTED ARIA and CRUEL MUSIC) is a great tale that once again brings vibrantly to life mid eighteenth century Venice. Besides the music scene, readers obtain a perspective of the degree of anti-Semitism the lead couple faces including the opposite cutting sword of the ostracism from Liya's Jewish family. The whodunit is cleverly devised to provide readers with an exciting mystery and a strong background that makes Venice circa 1742 seem real as virtuoso Beverle Graves Myers provides a tremendous historical.

Harriet Klausner

Her Deadly Mischief, ISBN9781590582336, Poisoned Pen Press, 277 pages, $24.95, by Beverle Graves Myers is one of the Tito Amato Mysteries.

Tito Amato, a somewhat unusual eunuch opera singer of 18th - century Italy, is the lead singer at Venice's state opera house, the Teatro San Marco. During one of his arias, Zulietta Giardino, a famous courtesan of Jewish ancestry, is murdered in a theatre box belonging to one of Venice's most prominent Glassmakers. Tito, from his position on stage, is able to see through a partial opening in the drawn curtains of the box and is the only witness to the crime. However, he cannot make positive identification because his view was restricted and the culprit's face was covered partially by a traditional mask often worn during the ongoing celebration of Carnivale. The story follows Tito's attempts to identify the murderer under the constant eye, and sometime direction of, Messer Grande, the chief of Venice's constabulary.

Numerous other major and minor characters are introduced and become involved in a most complicated plot. Among the major players: Tito's `wife', who is a Jewess, her family, their son, who was born before they met, Tito's manservant, the Glassmaker and his son who is the chief suspect, Pamarino, a dwarf who is devoted to the murdered woman, and La Samsona, another prominent courtesan and rival of Zulietta. The minor contributors to the plot are numerous and range from a respected family, the daughter of which is betrothed to the glassmaker's son, to members of Zuletta's family, and even gondoliers and some of the opera cast and employees of the Opera House.

With respect to the mechanics of presentation, the author has devised an interesting and involved plot that she adroitly shepherds to a fitting climax. Along the way, she has made an interesting and enjoyable contribution on several levels to material for modern day readers. She has 1) put a face to the unique castrati, who were some of the most prominent performers of a particular period of history. 2) provided the same for dwarfs, or the little people whose deformities in many ways caused them also to be vagabond performers as well as subjects of scorn and derision in many ways similar to that of the eunuchs. 3) presented an insightful look at the situation of Jews in that period of decaying elegance in Venice.

In summary. Her Deadly Mischief provides material of interest for the history buff as well as the mystery aficionado and has some left over for those who have a liking for the romance genre. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.

A couple years ago, I was on an author panel discussing different types of heroes, and when I mentioned Ms. Myers's castrato protagonist, Tito Amato, from 18th-century Venice, romance writers in the audience cringed and said, "Ewwwww!" I don't get the "Ewwwww." Tito is just as clever, interesting, and three-dimensional in this fifth book of the series as he was in the first four books. In this book, Tito has settled down to comfy married life and is being a good stepfather to his wife's little boy. Tito's role as a stepfather does figure in the climax of the book. But before that, he suffers the indignity of being the only witness of the murder of a courtesan -- on opening night of a new opera, and during his solo, no less. What's Tito to do but lead us on a fun romp through Venice in search of the murderer? I feel like I'm there. Ms. Myers nails the sights, tastes, and smells of 18th-c Venice, the caste and religious conflicts, the culture of the city of canals and gondolas. She also weaves in an interesting peek into the industry of the glass blowers. I sure hope we hear more about Tito after this book.

Her Deadly Mischief

By Beverle Graves Myers

Poisoned Pen Press, 2009

[...]

286 pages

Here we are transported to the gaiety, the intrigue and the complicated machinations of the ruling classes of that Adriatic gem, Venice. By now, mid eighteenth century, Venice is in decline, and no longer the regional superpower with absolute dominion over the Adriatic. Still her cultural climate is a world-wide force to be reckoned with. That includes her innovative grand opera.

Behind the crimson curtain of the Teatro San Marcos, difficult economic times are at work. In the lofty boxes of the well-born and the wealthy, murderous intrigue is also at work. When one of the city's celebrated courtesans, Zulietta Giardino, is murdered by a knife in her lovely chest, fingers of accusation are immediately pointed at one of Venice's leading and desirable young scions, Alessio Pino, heir to one of the most important Murano glassmaking families. The murder occurs during an opening aria by one of the city's most well-known singers, the castrato Tito Amato. Thus, Amato becomes the most important witness to the murder and therefore a target as the plot twists long the canals of the city.

Drawing effectively on her meticulous and extensive research, the author brings to life not only the glittering upper crust revels of the city, and its artistic culture, but readers will come to understand the life and times of ordinary citizens of the period. The novel is well-paced, the characters are enthrallling and the twisting mystery well resolved. Myers continuing series about the life of the prominent singer is a very pleasurable experience whether one is or is not an opera fan.

Set in Venice in 1742, Tito Amato is excited by singing the lead in a new opera. While he is used to the jaded and fickle crowd, it seems that all of Venice is equally interested in experiencing the latest entertainment, which is why Tito, when on stage singing, is surprised to see the curtains drawn closed on one of the opera boxes. Seconds later, as he watches, the curtains part, revealing a woman struggling with a man masked like many others during Carnivale. The performance ends abruptly as the woman falls from the fourth tier balcony to her death.

Although Tito has investigated murders before, this time he's got no true reason, other than the fact that he's the only witness who saw the murderer. But he really didn't see all that much. Still, he's the only hope of the new Messer Grande, who is officially in charge of solving the crime. And Tito is intrigued by the past of the victim, Zulietta, a courtesan who shared a common upbringing with Tito's wife Liya, that of Venice's Jewish Ghetto.

The mystery also involves a wager with another notorious courtesan, a dwarf who is a more than dedicated servant to Zulietta, a scion of a famous glass-making family, and possible connections to the Ghetto. There is a nice mix of historical and social detail with a strong mystery plot that makes this another excellent book in a very good historical mystery series. The books can be read alone, but it's best to read them all in order, starting with INTERRUPTED ARIA.

This series set in 18th century Venice features Tito Amato, a castrato who sings lead roles at the Teatro San Marco. On one opening night, the performance is disturbed by the death of a courtesan who falls from a fourth-tier box. Tito is the only witness, and he gets more interested when he learns the victim started life in the Jewish ghetto, where his own wife and adopted son once lived.

As Tito investigates, we learn a lot--painlessly--about the culture and the city. The most interesting aspect of the book is Tito himself. He is both lionized as a star and vilified as a freak. Both he and the dwarf Pamarino are outsiders who never quite make it all the way into the tent. That gives them an edge, and lends a depth to the storytelling.