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Staged for Murder
Violinist Julia Kogan, having survived murderous mayhem at the Santa Fe Opera, heads to the San Francisco Opera to temporarily replace the orchestra's concertmaster, the victim of a car accident--which may not have been an accident! Along with her significant other, former NYPD detective Larry Somers, and their five-year-old daughter Rachel, Julia finds that that even in this opera house, fiery artistic temperaments can still result in murder.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2020
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Erica Miner
9 books20 followersFormerly a violinist with the New York Metropolitan Opera, Erica is now an award-winning author, journalist, lecturer and screenwriter. Erica's debut novel, Travels With My Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. Her screenplays have won awards in recognized competitions. Aria for Murder, the first in her Opera Mystery series published by Level Best Books, was a Finalist in the 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. The sequel, Prelude to Murder, releases in September 2023, and the third book in the series is due for publication in 2024.
Erica is a regular contributor of articles and interviews to such arts websites USBachtrack, BroadwayWorld, and LAOpus.com.
An experienced speaker, seminarist and workshop giver, Erica was a top-rated lecturer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She has since presented regularly for the Seattle Symphony pre-concert talks, Osher Lifelong Living Institute at University of California San Diego and University of Washington, Wagner Societies on both coasts and in Australia, and numerous other venues.
Erica is a regular contributor of articles and interviews to such arts websites USBachtrack, BroadwayWorld, and LAOpus.com.
An experienced speaker, seminarist and workshop giver, Erica was a top-rated lecturer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She has since presented regularly for the Seattle Symphony pre-concert talks, Osher Lifelong Living Institute at University of California San Diego and University of Washington, Wagner Societies on both coasts and in Australia, and numerous other venues.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 24, 2021
Staged for Murder provides readers with a tantalizing glimpse backstage and into the orchestra pit of a production of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungen. Erica Miner’s delightfully inquisitive main character, Julia Kogan, is the concert master for the Metropolitan Opera, but here she’s guesting with the San Francisco Opera for its Wagner production. Professional jealousies and titanic egos lead to murder. Packed with insider knowledge and fascinating details of the War Memorial Opera House and Wagner’s Ring, not to mention spellbinding suspense and danger, Staged for Murder is a must for opera lovers and aficionados of intelligent, well-written murder mysteries. I loved it.
April 10, 2021
What better place than an opera house to set a drama of murder and jealousy? Mystery is not my usual genre, but I was intrigued by this story set during a production of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungs, a favorite of mine. Staged for Murder is aimed right at mystery fans who also love opera—or San Francisco.
Violinist and amateur sleuth Julia is hired as interim concertmaster for a production of the Ring at San Francisco Opera after their concertmaster is injured by a hit-and-run driver—maybe not an accident. Julia is naturally curious—even nosy—and has helped solve two opera-related murders in the past, activity that put her own life in peril. Now she is a mother and hopes all the drama will stay on the stage this time. But after a couple days of sightseeing, rehearsals begin … and murders, the first victim universally loathed, the second mostly beloved. Everyone in the company is a suspect, including Julia, so she starts investigating in order to clear her name and get to the truth. When her efforts put her 5-year-old daughter in jeopardy, she has to choose between the investigation and her family. All this plays out against the larger-than-life backdrop of Wagner’s masterpiece.
The early chapters serve as a travelogue, as Julia and family tour San Francisco. I could have done with less travel-brochure dialogue, but it was fun to encounter various real-life attractions. And this carefree part of the story sets up later drama. The reader is also supplied with ample background on the history of San Francisco Opera, the Ring, and some of what goes into making an opera happen, including backstage tours into creepy basements and attics of the opera house. Meanwhile, an unnamed killer with a grudge is shown making clever plans that eventually play out, closer and closer to Julia. The reader gets to know more than the investigators, but not much more. Good, creepy stuff!
I have a beef, though, with the character of Julia’s daughter. I usually like kids (and pets) in novels, but Rachel felt like a plot device, solely there to raise the stakes. I kept expecting this five-year-old to have a meltdown; she’s introduced as temperamental and headstrong. But no, even though she has been removed from her familiar routine and home, she comes across as polite and precocious, patient with all-day sightseeing, a budding violinist and opera fan. Too precious for words and rarely believable as an actual child. After making a big deal of women in many important roles at the opera—general director, conductor, orchestra manager, interim concertmaster—Miner squandered the opportunity to at least hint at the difficulty women in the arts face when they have children. Julia has no hassles with childcare, late work hours, or the usual chaos and mess of parenthood. She’s never late because her kid has lost her shoes or refuses to eat. Julia worries about her daughter but never has to do any actual parenting. I’m hoping for Rachel to come back in 10 years as a rebellious teen working out her trauma in a punk band. Maybe she’ll solve the Murder In the Mosh Pit.
Violinist and amateur sleuth Julia is hired as interim concertmaster for a production of the Ring at San Francisco Opera after their concertmaster is injured by a hit-and-run driver—maybe not an accident. Julia is naturally curious—even nosy—and has helped solve two opera-related murders in the past, activity that put her own life in peril. Now she is a mother and hopes all the drama will stay on the stage this time. But after a couple days of sightseeing, rehearsals begin … and murders, the first victim universally loathed, the second mostly beloved. Everyone in the company is a suspect, including Julia, so she starts investigating in order to clear her name and get to the truth. When her efforts put her 5-year-old daughter in jeopardy, she has to choose between the investigation and her family. All this plays out against the larger-than-life backdrop of Wagner’s masterpiece.
The early chapters serve as a travelogue, as Julia and family tour San Francisco. I could have done with less travel-brochure dialogue, but it was fun to encounter various real-life attractions. And this carefree part of the story sets up later drama. The reader is also supplied with ample background on the history of San Francisco Opera, the Ring, and some of what goes into making an opera happen, including backstage tours into creepy basements and attics of the opera house. Meanwhile, an unnamed killer with a grudge is shown making clever plans that eventually play out, closer and closer to Julia. The reader gets to know more than the investigators, but not much more. Good, creepy stuff!
I have a beef, though, with the character of Julia’s daughter. I usually like kids (and pets) in novels, but Rachel felt like a plot device, solely there to raise the stakes. I kept expecting this five-year-old to have a meltdown; she’s introduced as temperamental and headstrong. But no, even though she has been removed from her familiar routine and home, she comes across as polite and precocious, patient with all-day sightseeing, a budding violinist and opera fan. Too precious for words and rarely believable as an actual child. After making a big deal of women in many important roles at the opera—general director, conductor, orchestra manager, interim concertmaster—Miner squandered the opportunity to at least hint at the difficulty women in the arts face when they have children. Julia has no hassles with childcare, late work hours, or the usual chaos and mess of parenthood. She’s never late because her kid has lost her shoes or refuses to eat. Julia worries about her daughter but never has to do any actual parenting. I’m hoping for Rachel to come back in 10 years as a rebellious teen working out her trauma in a punk band. Maybe she’ll solve the Murder In the Mosh Pit.
December 5, 2020
When I heard that there was a new book in Erica Miner’s Opera Mystery series, I couldn’t wait to dive into another rich and multilayered mystery. Book 3 in the series features Julia Kogan, a Metropolitan Opera violinist who’s on assignment for concertmaster in the San Francisco Opera Company and her significant other, Larry Somers, who is a NYPD detective and father to a newly introduced character, Rachel. Five-year-old Rachel is a wonderful addition to the series. She’s highly gifted and intelligent, already plays complex pieces on her miniature violin, and has a lyrical voice. To top that off, Rachel has perfect pitch. This may seem a little over-the-top, but I can testify that children at that age can indeed sing like birds. My daughter at age five used to serenade me with songs from The Little Mermaid, yes, in perfect pitch. But I digress…
So, I love mysteries and opera. But you don’t have to be an opera fan to adore this book.
My experience with opera in college classes and excursions to the Met in NYC always revolved primarily around bel canto opera – those with melodic arias and love songs that stop your heart they’re so beautiful. I am in love with operas such as “Tosca,” “Carmen,” “Rigoletto,” “Norma,” “Traviata,” “Aida,” and “La Boheme,” to name a few. But even in my college electives about opera, being raised by a music professor father, or having seen as many local operas as possible, I’d never in my entire life heard the music from Wagner’s Ring cycle, except for the famous motif from the “Ride of the Valkyries.” Ms. Miner opened up my world to this and I found myself looking up Youtube videos from Wagner’s opera and especially listening for the violin parts that the main character paints so beautifully.
Ms. Miner describes the War Memorial Opera House in amazing detail – with “tours” from room to room. Readers also get to witness Julia’s fascinating performances in this opera while people are being murdered on stage.
This delicious mystery is electrifying and replete with color. The characters are delightful – snooty, sweet, evil, snarky, vengeful…you name it, and there is a character in this cast for that characteristic! The tempo of the tale rises as the story unfolds, reaching a climax that made this reader hold his breath until it was resolved.
Readers, check out this layered and lyrical mystery.
Ms. Miner, thank you for another in this series of intriguing stories. Please write another soon!
Highly recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar.
So, I love mysteries and opera. But you don’t have to be an opera fan to adore this book.
My experience with opera in college classes and excursions to the Met in NYC always revolved primarily around bel canto opera – those with melodic arias and love songs that stop your heart they’re so beautiful. I am in love with operas such as “Tosca,” “Carmen,” “Rigoletto,” “Norma,” “Traviata,” “Aida,” and “La Boheme,” to name a few. But even in my college electives about opera, being raised by a music professor father, or having seen as many local operas as possible, I’d never in my entire life heard the music from Wagner’s Ring cycle, except for the famous motif from the “Ride of the Valkyries.” Ms. Miner opened up my world to this and I found myself looking up Youtube videos from Wagner’s opera and especially listening for the violin parts that the main character paints so beautifully.
Ms. Miner describes the War Memorial Opera House in amazing detail – with “tours” from room to room. Readers also get to witness Julia’s fascinating performances in this opera while people are being murdered on stage.
This delicious mystery is electrifying and replete with color. The characters are delightful – snooty, sweet, evil, snarky, vengeful…you name it, and there is a character in this cast for that characteristic! The tempo of the tale rises as the story unfolds, reaching a climax that made this reader hold his breath until it was resolved.
Readers, check out this layered and lyrical mystery.
Ms. Miner, thank you for another in this series of intriguing stories. Please write another soon!
Highly recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar.
April 24, 2021
Bravo for this third intricate mystery amidst the dramatic setting of the opera world. I had great anticipation as I began Staged For Murder and enjoyed this latest addition to the intriguing series. Violinist and amateur sleuth Julia Kogan has traveled to perform with the San Francisco Opera. She's needed there because their concertmaster is a victim of a tragic hit-and-run accident. Or was it an accident? With the backdrop of Wagner, a killer claims victims. As the suspect list grows, It's a shock when Julia is included. She must investigate to clear her name and to stop the murders. The tension builds and draws the reader along to an incredible and exciting crescendo.
The assortment of personalities within the theater actors and employees are fascinating to analyze. Some characters in the book are from earlier in the series, including Julia's significant other Larry Somers. His life has drastically changed from his NYPD detective days. They are now a family of three with a five year old bright, smart and musically talented daughter. As a mother, Julia realizes a whole different dimension to dangers of investigating mysteries.
The mystery is delightfully woven into the setting of an historic opera house, with a Wagner opera backdrop. You don't have to be an opera fan to enjoy this mystery. I learned so much about the world of opera too, and it was very interesting. Since Julia and her family are new to San Francisco, the reader is also treated to fun excursions into places of this city and learn some little known history about it too.
I really appreciate the author's history playing with the Metropolitan Opera and sharing so much of what she learned and absorbed about that life. It makes the story more realistic, and heightens the adventure of the exciting mystery. Looking forward to book 4. In the meantime, find out more on her website ericaminer.com.
The assortment of personalities within the theater actors and employees are fascinating to analyze. Some characters in the book are from earlier in the series, including Julia's significant other Larry Somers. His life has drastically changed from his NYPD detective days. They are now a family of three with a five year old bright, smart and musically talented daughter. As a mother, Julia realizes a whole different dimension to dangers of investigating mysteries.
The mystery is delightfully woven into the setting of an historic opera house, with a Wagner opera backdrop. You don't have to be an opera fan to enjoy this mystery. I learned so much about the world of opera too, and it was very interesting. Since Julia and her family are new to San Francisco, the reader is also treated to fun excursions into places of this city and learn some little known history about it too.
I really appreciate the author's history playing with the Metropolitan Opera and sharing so much of what she learned and absorbed about that life. It makes the story more realistic, and heightens the adventure of the exciting mystery. Looking forward to book 4. In the meantime, find out more on her website ericaminer.com.
November 27, 2020
Since the previous books in this series the author has added a new character, a child, to the character mix. Explaining facts to the child is an excellent vehicle for explaining facts to a reader not familiar with the Ring Opera Cycle. I have seen the Ring cycle four times. I was not bored by the explanations given to the child. In fact the child, Rachael, is one of my favorite characters.
The mystery is well thought out, with enough suspense to keep a murder mystery fan fully engaged. Having lived in San Francisco for twenty years, I also felt the authors presentation of the city to be spot on. The combination of Opera behind the scenes detail, interesting characters who are well developed, and an excellent mystery itself, when all mixed together simply thicken the plot into a very tasty read.
All told I give this book high marks all around.
The mystery is well thought out, with enough suspense to keep a murder mystery fan fully engaged. Having lived in San Francisco for twenty years, I also felt the authors presentation of the city to be spot on. The combination of Opera behind the scenes detail, interesting characters who are well developed, and an excellent mystery itself, when all mixed together simply thicken the plot into a very tasty read.
All told I give this book high marks all around.
November 1, 2020
I happily endorse this book to any and all who are looking for an enjoyable read and a completely different experience than anyone could imagine on their own. I was very happy to have the opportunity to experience the challenge and I'm very grateful to find it. This highly intelligent, imaginative, and creative author has a real flare
If you are a mystery fan you will enjoy this entertaining read. If you are a music lover as well, rejoice! This book is a gift for those who know and love classical music, particularly opera.
I highly recommend the book series. you'll not regret reading all his books, Erica miner is a fantastic writer.
If you are a mystery fan you will enjoy this entertaining read. If you are a music lover as well, rejoice! This book is a gift for those who know and love classical music, particularly opera.
I highly recommend the book series. you'll not regret reading all his books, Erica miner is a fantastic writer.
June 3, 2021
This story is thrilling and complexed. Erica clearly has a background in opera and I loved she has chosen the drama surrounding an opera company to be the background for mysteries. I couldn’t put this book down. I will now have to go back and read the others in the series.
February 23, 2021
San Francisco and its lovely Opera House, Wagner's Ring Cycle, and murder are a winning mix!
February 13, 2022
Engaging, with interesting setting.
Want to Read
December 16, 2024I believe this is unavailable under this title but is available as Overture to Murder
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews