When it comes to real world mysteries, certain settings stand out as the most compelling. An
opera house is one, and in my Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series I use the mischief and mayhem
found behind those golden curtains to portray the setting as an important character in the stories.

In the first novel in the series, Aria for Murder, I start with young violinist protagonist Julia
Kogan and her impressions of the grandeur of the Metropolitan Opera House. Like me when I
first embarked on my career as a violinist in the Met Orchestra, Julia is a young neophyte who
knows nothing about the political machinations and infighting behind the scenes; she’s just
excited about making her debut in the orchestra of the world’s most prestigious opera house.

At the outset, neither Julia nor the reader would suspect this resplendent artistic destination could
be the setting for murderous mayhem. Chapter One describes opening night at the Met in detail
from Julia’s point of view: the eager anticipation of the crowds of chic patrons, the parade of
celebrities emerging from their limos on Lincoln Center Plaza; the paparazzi competing to snap
the ultimate photographs of them. Thus the setting comes alive as a central character.

As Julia winds her way toward the opera house, she gazes at the iconic, brilliantly colored forty-
foot Chagall murals that are the Met’s signature and catches a glimpse of the patrons inside the
lobby climbing the magnificent staircases made of Italian marble. It’s a uniquely elegant and
impressive environment, unlike any other in the world. The stage is set for a night to remember,
but for different reasons than Julia expects.

It’s not long before Julia starts to encounter the less glamorous aspects of her workplace: the
supercilious general director, who mercilessly criticizes Julia for no apparent reason; the
irritating yet likeable violinist with whom Julia shares a music stand in the orchestra pit; the
stagehand whose flattering attention makes Julia blush.

Julia soon discovers the opera stage itself is a petri dish for arrogant, self-centered singers.
Mini dramas between superstars and their competitors are a frequent occurrence there. Ego
trips alternate with the emotional meltdowns of insecure sopranos and self-doubting tenors.
Julia witnesses all this with both awe and distress when she realizes the glamor of the exterior
is a huge contrast with the reality of the “no love lost” nitty gritty that takes place inside the
theatre. But she’s still enchanted with the entire atmosphere, and once the performance begins
she’s all in: transported by the exquisite music, immersed in the tragic story while surreptitiously
watching the mesmerizing action onstage out of the corner of her eye.

Then something terrible happens to rock Julia’s carefully crafted ideal of her new musical home,
and she finds out it’s not all about the music. Within the recesses of the theatre are dark corners,
hidden stairways, and places within the upper reaches of the theatre where people up to no good
can wreak havoc. The potential for disaster is huge, where someone can unknowingly walk into
an empty elevator and fall to their death and high-placed scenery can come loose from its
moorings and come crashing to the stage, endangering whoever might be in the way. Combined
with the tendencies toward erratic behavior from the 4,000 people who work behind the scenes in this immense theate and are usually at odds with each other, it’s a formula for mischief and mayhem.

In my 21 years at the Met, I had the opportunity to observe a number of extraordinary events that
would curl the ears of most people, no matter how inured to implausible occurrences. A performer
expiring from a heart attack onstage in the middle of a performance; a performer plunging to their
death from a twenty-foot ladder; a performer stopping a fellow singer in the middle of an encore,
arousing the ire of the live audience. And more.

How could I not write about this stuff? It simply is too good to pass up. I was still playing at the
Met when I realized I could not resist writing an opera mystery that took place there. Sequels
followed that exploited the best and worst of other opera houses: Prelude to Murder at the Santa
Fe Opera, and my current release Overture to Murder at the San Francisco Opera, the second
most prestigious opera house in the US. No matter the location or city, an opera theatre is prone to
disaster in the most fascinating ways, rife with potential for murderous chaos.

What’s not to like about that?

The curtain comes down on murder in OVERTURE TO MURDER, the third novel of the Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series. Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera, this time with her significant other, former NYPD detective Larry Somers, and their five-year-old daughter Rebecca. Julia is under inordinate amounts of pressure as she replaces the ailing concertmaster, Ben, who has suffered serious injuries in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, which Julia suspects might not have been accidental. Then, one prominent company member becomes the victim of a grisly murder, and Julia cannot resist becoming involved in the investigation. As in her previous sleuthing at the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera, Julia once again discovers that fiery artistic temperaments and danger lurking in the dark hallways and back stairways of an opera house provide a chilling backdrop for murder.

This time, however, it’s not only her own life that is in peril.

ISBN: 978-1-68512-781-7 (pb)  978-68512-782-4 (eb)   Buy Link

About Erica Miner:

Award-winning Seattle-based author, lecturer, screenwriter and arts journalist Erica Miner believes opera theatres are perfect places for creating fictional mischief. Drawing on her 21 years as a violinist at the famed Metropolitan Opera, Erica balances her reviews and interviews of real-world musical artists with fanciful plot fabrications that reveal the dark side of the fascinating world of opera, guiding readers through a dramatized version of the opera world in her Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series.

Erica’s young violinist sleuth, Julia Kogan, investigates high-profile murder and mayhem behind
the Met’s “Golden Curtain” in Book 1, Aria for Murder (2022), finalist in the 2023 Eric Hoffer
Book Awards and Chanticleer Independent Book Awards. In Book 2, Prelude to Murder (2023)
(‘A skillfully written whodunit of operatic proportions’—Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erica-miner/prelude-to-murder/, Distinguished
Favorite, 2024 NYC Big Book Awards, further operatic chaos and ghostly apparitions plague
Julia at the Santa Fe Opera. In Overture to Murder, releasing in Oct. 2024, Julia finds herself in
jeopardy once again at the San Francisco Opera.

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 the Writer’s Digest, Santa Fe, and
WinFemme competitions. When she isn't plumbing the depths of opera houses for murderous
mayhem, Erica frequently contributes reviews and interviews for the well-known arts websites
www.BroadwayWorld.com, www.bachtrack.com, and www.LAOpus.com.

Social Media:

Author’s website:  https://www.ericaminer.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erica.miner1

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/EmwrtrErica

Inagram:  https://www.instagram.com/emwriter3