Book Spotlight and Excerpt of ARIA FOR MURDER by Erica Miner

Aria for Murder (A Julia Kogan Opera Mystery)
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller
Romance Rating: 2-3
 
Excitement mounts as the moment arrives for brilliant young violinist Julia Kogan's debut in the orchestra of the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera. But the high-stakes milieu of this musical mecca is rocked to its core when, during an onstage murder scene, Julia's mentor, a famous conductor, is assassinated on the podium. Thrust into the investigation when her closest colleague in the orchestra is named chief suspect, Julia teams up with opera-loving NYPD detective Larry Somers to solve the murder. In the process, they are shocked to discover the venerable opera house is rife with a web of secrets, intrigue, and lethal rivalries. But all bets are off when Julia suddenly finds herself the real killer's prime target.
 
“A ruthless and clever killer haunts the Metropolitan Opera and the hidden recesses of Lincoln Center. Violinist Julia Kogan, a rising star in the pit, must unmask the murderer or become a victim herself. Erica Miner’s richly satisfying Aria for Murder delivers a compelling mystery, replete with devious characters, glorious music, and plenty of behind-the-scenes dirty laundry. A musical and dramatic triumph. Bis! Encore!”—James W. Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author
 
“Erica Miner, the Agatha Christie of the opera world, continues the genre with a wickedly wonderful…brand new thriller, Aria for Murder…This is simply brilliant writing. Bravissima!”
—Richard Stilwell, international opera star
 
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Aria-Murder-Julia-Kogan-Mystery/dp/1685121985/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1669763489&sr=8-1

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EXCERPT:

Prologue
 
Chi è morto, voi, o il vecchio?
Che domanda da bestia! Il vecchio.
 Who’s dead, you or the old man?
What an idiotic question! The old man.
 —Mozart, Don Giovanni, Act I
  
Collateral damage. Sometimes it just can’t be avoided.
 That was what his partner had told him. When you’re trying to kill someone, other people can get in the way. It’s not planned. It just happens. Though the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra pit was the largest in the world, when the orchestration of an opera was vast, as in Wagner or Strauss, things could get quite crowded for the one hundred or so musicians squeezed together there. Tonight’s Verdi was no exception. Grand opera at its loftiest, with plenty of brass, extra strings, and the like. He would do his best to hit his target precisely. But it wasn’t an exact science. And if, under pressure, he was slightly off, well...
Tanto peggio, as they say in French.
He chortled to himself. Everyone in the Met knew “tanto peggio” was Italian, not French.
He salivated with anticipation as he lovingly cleaned his VAL Russian sniper rifle with its special bronze-bristled brush, and oiled and lubricated the ammunition chamber with the fine-spray One Shot gun cleaner and a cotton swab. He picked up the last tiny fragments of powder residue with an alcohol patch threaded through a needle attached to the brush. Then he polished the entire instrument with one of his special-order McAlister microfiber gun cleaning cloths. 
If you look after your firearm, when the time comes, it will look after you. 
A vintage model, no longer available, the VAL was precious, but not because of its monetary or historic value. It was his own personal Stradivarius: a thing of beauty, a state-of-the-art example of genius in design at its time, and still as reliable as ever. He knew that the cartridge of this rifle, with the immense power contained within its barrel, was capable of forcing a bullet to explode at a higher speed than a mere handgun: the kind of velocity he needed to accomplish his goal. 
Lord knows I need something dependable—and powerful. 
No one knew he kept the VAL right inside the opera house, practically under everyone’s noses. To head off the possibility that they might install metal detectors at the Met—which everyone seemed to be doing these days—he had found the perfect hiding place for his beloved firearm, in a far-off corner away from prying eyes. It remained there, at the ready, just in case he needed it. No one was aware of its existence, let alone its hidden location. 

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About the Author:
A former violinist with the Metropolitan Opera, I am an award-winning author, screenwriter, arts journalist, and lecturer based in the Pacific Northwest. My debut novel, Travels with my Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards, and my screenplays have won awards in a number of recognized competitions. Aria for Murder, the first in my Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series, released on Oct. 28, 2022.
 
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio. “To my knowledge, I’m the only former Met Opera musician who is writing operatic mysteries.”
 
Author Contacts:
https://www.facebook.com/erica.miner1/
https://twitter.com/EmwrtrErica
https://www.instagram.com/emwriter3/

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For more information about the author, check out her Author Interview on my Ally Shields blog:
​​allyshields.com/blog/chatting-with-mysterythriller-writer-erica-miner

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