Phoebe is quickly introduced to the Colony staff, rehearsing for the first production of the summer. After seeing only a short portion of rehearsal, Phoebe senses a lot of tension between the players. Two days later, when the baritone, Frank Palermo, is found dead of an allergic reaction to penicillin pills, Phoebe’s suspicion is confirmed: there are a lot of negative undercurrents at the Colony, some of them deadly.

Lieutenant Saul Freed heads up the investigation and immediately looks to Phoebe for her input -- in spite of the fact that she has only been at the Colony for two days and claims to have no connection to any of the artists, who all have ties to each other beyond the Colony. Freed confides in Phoebe many aspects of the case, including their only clue, an X scratched through the name Amadeus on Frank’s score. He asks her to keep her ears open for other clues or motives. Phoebe is off the suspect list before she is ever on it.

This complete trusting of the outsider by the police did not ring true. If anyone should have been at the top of the suspect list, it should be Phoebe. Why would the police immediately assume the murderer was someone closely and openly associated with Frank and not the stranger whose ties and motives would not be immediately apparent? Naturally, this thrust and sharing of information leads to the inevitable romance between the Lieutenant and Phoebe. Again, it seemed to get hot and heavy immediately, with very little preliminary attraction demonstrated by either party.

Frank had recently become involved with a cult and had begun to encourage everyone to reveal their lies and deceptions. While Frank knew everyone’s hidden secrets, according to the tenets of the cult, the only person able to reveal a secret was the one holding it. The members of the Colony have plenty of secrets, but which one was worth killing for?

As Phoebe learns everyone’s secrets, she suspects each player in turn, and confronts them. This is not necessarily a smart idea for an untrained amateur. Phoebe is a well-drawn character and even has a self-revelation concerning her life with her husband that helps her deal with his death and move on with her life. The other characters are flatter and are picture perfect examples of the angst-filled musician stereotype.

The backdrop of the opera colony setting is very rich in detail, with references scattered throughout that you needn’t be an opera buff to appreciate. Some references to Anna Varovna’s possible involvement with the French Resistance during World War II add another depth of interest to the story.

The book moved along at a good pace and Phoebe is an enjoyable character with many more layers to be explored in future outings. I will look forward to another musical adventure featuring Phoebe.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry