A Fatal Finale

Kathleen Marple Kalb

• Publisher: Kensington Books
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781496727237
• eBook ISBN:
  9781496727299
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Crime & Mystery Literature
• Index: Literature

On the cusp of the twentieth century, Manhattan is a lively metropolis buzzing with talent. But after a young soprano meets an untimely end on stage, can one go-getting leading lady hit the right notes in a case of murder?
 
New York City, 1899. When it comes to show business, Gilded Age opera singer Ella Shane wears the pants. The unconventional diva breaks the mold by assuming “trouser roles”—male characters played by women—and captivating audiences far and wide with her travelling theatre company. But Ella’s flair for the dramatic takes a terrifying turn when an overacting Juliet to her Romeo drinks real poison during the final act of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.
 
Weeks after the woman’s death is ruled a tragic accident, a mysterious English duke arrives in Greenwich Village on a mission. He’s certain someone is getting away with murder, and the refined aristocrat won’t travel back across the Atlantic until Ella helps him expose the truth.
 
As Ella finds herself caught between her craft and a growing infatuation with her dashing new acquaintance, she’s determined to decode the dark secrets surrounding her co-star’s fatale finale—before the lights go dark and the culprit appears for an encore . . .
 
[Author Photo]
 
Kathleen Marple Kalb lives with her family in Cheshire, Connecticut. She’s currently a weekend morning anchor at New York's 1010WINS Radio, capping a career she began as a teenage DJ in rural Western Pennsylvania. She’s currently working on the next Ella Shane historical mystery.
 
Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com
 
 

Table of contents

• Praise
• Also by Kathleen Marple Kalb
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 - She Was Her Man
• Chapter 2 - In Which We Meet the Wicked Duke
• Chapter 3 - Dinner en Famille in Washington Square
• Chapter 4 - A Proper Cup of Tea
• Chapter 5 - In Which the Priest Stays to Dinner
• Chapter 6 - A Night with the Ink-Stained Wretches
• Chapter 7 - The Daring Young Ladies on their Flying Machines
• Chapter 8 - In Which Dr. Silver Offers a Second Opinion
• Chapter 9 - Candles for Remembrance
• Chapter 10 - Madame Marie de l’Artois Plots Her Triumphant Return
• Chapter 11 - In Which Our Heroes Play Stradivarius
• Chapter 12 - A Matter Not Good for the Gosling
• Chapter 13 - Backstage Dramas
• Chapter 14 - No Stage-Door Lotharios Wanted
• Chapter 15 - In Which the Agent Calls
• Chapter 16 - In Which Our Divas School the Duke
• Chapter 17 - What She Left Behind
• Chapter 18 - Milady in Her Bath
• Chapter 19 - A Fine Promenade in the Park
• Chapter 20 - In Which We Pass a Pleasing Night at Home
• Chapter 21 - Shall We Dance?
• Chapter 22 - Consolation and Confusion with Uncle Preston
• Chapter 23 - At Her Mentor’s Knee
• Chapter 24 - No Dollar Princesses Wanted, Either
• Chapter 25 - Worth the Candle
• Chapter 26 - Perfidy and Prejudice Among the Lilacs
• Chapter 27 - In Which We Make Our Duke Useful
• Chapter 28 - All a Lady Has Is Her Reputation
• Chapter 29 - What It Was, and How It Was Done
• Chapter 30 - In Which We Seek Counsel with the Good Father
• Chapter 31 - “O Happy Dagger”
• Chapter 32 - All Things Resolved After the Curtain
• Epilogue - The Post from London
• Teaser Chapter