In September of 1740, singer Tito Amato receives a curious invitation. The German composer Karl Johann Weber is rehearsing a new opera at an isolated villa nestled in the hills of the Venetian mainland. Would Tito accept the lead role? Puzzled by the air of secrecy that enshrouds the production, but attracted by a generous fee, Tito agrees. Artist Gussie Rumbolt, Titos friend and brother-in-law, has also been summoned to paint scenes of the estates grape harvest. The two men find the countryside awash with the golden hues of autumn, but the bucolic mood quickly turns menacing when a notorious figure from Titos past turns up at the villa. That night, at the stroke of twelve, a soprano stumbles over a stranger who has been beaten to death with the clock pendulum. With the local constable away on a boar hunt, the midnight murderer strikes with impunity, raising terror to a fevered crescendo. Ever faithful to the ideals of truth and justice, Tito pursues his own quest for answersa quest that leads straight into the painful secrets of his heart and beyond. The Iron Tongue of Midnight is the fourth novel in Myers Baroque Mystery series. It follows Cruel Music.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Myers's agreeable fourth mystery to feature 18th-century Venetian castrato Tito Amato (after 2006's Cruel Music), Tito has barely settled in at a country villa, where he's participating in a private performance commissioned by a wealthy opera lover, when a stranger is found murdered in the villa's hallway. To his further astonishment, one of the singers gathered there, under a false identity, is his sister, Grisella, who left the family years before and for whom his brother, Alessandro, is just then searching in Constantinople. Tito attempts to solve the murder and uncover his sister's real story amid musical rehearsals, regular epistles from Alessandro and more deaths. The book's diction and attitudes have a contemporary rather than a historical ring, and Alessandro's unrealistically prompt and well-dramatized letters are an obvious fictional contrivance. Still, Tito proves himself a lively narrator, and fans of cozier period puzzles and Italian opera will enjoy his company as well as the book's appealingly bucolic, autumnal setting. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“An accomplished historical novel that's also a classic country-house murder mystery.” – Kirkus Reviews of The Iron Tongue of Midnight
“Myers uses the intriguing 18th-century Italian settings to great advantage in this lively historical country house mystery.” –Library Journal of The Iron Tongue of Midnight
“Tito proves himself a lively narrator, and fans of cozier period puzzles and Italian opera will enjoy his company as well as the book's appealingly bucolic, autumnal setting.” –Publishers Weekly of The Iron Tongue of Midnight
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More About the Author
Beverle Graves Myers fell in love with opera at a marionette production of Rigoletto when she was nine years old. Around the same time, she discovered Agatha Christie and hasn't stopped reading mysteries since. Now, Bev enjoys mixing murder, music and intrigue in writing her Baroque Mystery series from Poisoned Pen Press. Set in dazzling, decadent 18th-century Venice, her novels feature Tito Amato, an opera singer with a stellar talent for sleuthing. Bev also writes short fiction set in a variety of times and places. Her stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Futures, Woman's World, and numerous anthologies. Bev's work has been nominated for the Macavity, Derringer, Kentucky Literary Awards. A retired psychiatrist, Bev now writes full time from her home in Louisville, Kentucky. Visit her website at www.beverlegravesmyers.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Time After Time,
By
This review is from: The Iron Tongue of Midnight (Baroque Mystery) (Hardcover)
One of the more bizarre murder instruments plays a role in three murders in the fourth novel in the Baroque Mystery series--a grandfather clock. In two of them, the pendulum bashes in the skull of the victim, while the hour hand is used to penetrate the throat of the third. It all takes place at a villa during the year1740 where Tito Amato and a group of singers are invited to rehearse a new opera. Accompanied by his brother-in-law and sidekick in solving mysteries, Gussie Rumbolt, who is asked to paint scenes of the estate, Tito arrives, expecting a pleasant stay. Soon, however, the first victim is discovered with the clock indicating it stopped at midnight. And each time a body is discovered, the clock indicates midnight. Having not read the preceding three novels in the series, a comparison can't be offered. But judging from this effort, it can be presumed by the plotting, dialogue and writing, that the novels are all of high quality. After a slow start, this reader became engrossed in the story and was pleasantly surprised. A good read, and recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent historical whodunit,
This review is from: The Iron Tongue of Midnight: A Tito Amato Mystery (Baroque Mystery) (Paperback)
In 1740, German composer Karl Johann Weber invites renowned singer Tito Amato to play the lead in a new opera he is producing. Tito is euphoric although his brother in law Gussie Rumbolt points out the role of Tamerlano the lusty Mongol conqueror seems off note for a castrato, but Tito insists the exorbitant fee will cover any shortcomings.
Gussie, who also has been hired to paint scenes, accompanies Tito to the isolated Venetian Villa Dolfini where Weber is leading rehearsals in stark secrecy. That night as Gussie and Tito share a room in the villa, soprano Carmela Costa screams. The bloodcurdling screech wakes everyone up. Lying at her ankle is a corpse apparently beaten to death with a nearby clock pendulum. No one can identify the victim and a check of his pockets does not help as they are totally empty. They send for the High Constable Captain Forti, but he is away. As other midnight killings follow, Tito investigates not knowing when he made that decision his inquiries will turn introspectively personal. The latest Baroque Mystery (see INTERRUPTED ARIA, PAINTED VEIL, and CRUEL MUSIC) is an excellent historical whodunit that uses an eighteenth century villa to serve as a sort of locked room. Tito is terrific as an amateur sleuth struggling with a case in which motive seems impossible to find since the first deceased is unknown. Besides an entertaining mystery, the story line brings to life the musical side of Venice and to a lesser degree Constantinople through the writings of Tito's brother Alessandro. Readers will sing the praise of Beverle Graves Myers who makes a night at the opera fun. Harriet Klausner
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing Country-house Murder Mystery Set in 18thC. Italy,
By
This review is from: The Iron Tongue of Midnight (Baroque Mystery) (Hardcover)
In the fourth book of the Tito Amato series, set in 18thC Italy, we have an intriguing country-house murder mystery. The socially ambitious wife of the estate-owner has found a composer to sponsor and gathers together musicians to produce his opera in hopes of eventually bringing it to Venice.
Now, a country estate is no very appealing place for established castrato, Tito Amato, who can find better venues and parts elsewhere, but the money is good and his friend and brother-in-law, Gussie Rumbolt, has also been hired to do some paintings. When a man no one knows is found dead one night in the middle of the villa, the mystery begins. While there are intrigues and tensions and secrets amongst the guests and the household, nothing seems to point to a particular murderer or motive. But of course, the mystery continues to deepen, as does the body-count. Even at a pleasant country retreat, events of the wide world intrude. From distant Russia to Constantinople and to the varied pasts of the cosmopolitan musicians from all over Europe, nothing is simple. And Tito's own past also plays a large part in the tale. I very much enjoyed the mystery and the complexity of the characters. I'm greatly looking forward to reading more in this exciting series.
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