Tito Amato Mystery Series by Beverle Graves Myers
Tito Amato Mystery #1
1 - Interrupted Aria
Beverle Graves Myers
The dazzling city on the lagoon is sailing toward the ruin of her maritime empire, determined to go down in a maelstrom of pleasure, music, and masquerade. Venice, 1731. Opera is the popular entertainment of the day and the castrati are its reigning divas. Tito Amato, mutilated as a boy to preserve his enchanting soprano voice, returns to the city of his birth with his friend Felice, a castrato whose voice has failed. Disaster strikes Tito's opera premier when the singer loses one beloved friend to poison and another to unjust accusation and arrest. Alarmed that the merchant-aristocrat who owns the theater is pressing the authorities to close the case, Tito races the executioner to find the real killer. The possible suspects could people the cast of one of his operas: a libertine nobleman and his spurned wife, a jealous soprano, an ambitious composer, and a patrician family bent on the theater's ruin. With carnival gaiety swirling around him and rousing Venetian passions to an ominous crescendo, Tito finds that the most astonishing secrets lurk behind the masks of his own family and friends.
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Tito Amato Mystery #2
2 - Painted Veil
Beverle Graves Myers
Venice, 1734. Singer Tito Amato has let fame go to his head. Neglecting his vocal practice for dubious pleasures, Tito finds himself demoted to secondary roles and overshadowed by a visiting star. When the murder of scene painter Luca Cavalieri threatens to close the opera house, Tito jumps at the chance to regain his worth by finding the killer. Strained relations between Venice’s Jewish and Christian inhabitants throw suspicion on members of a Jewish ghetto family that produces masks for the theater. But a mysterious veil that Tito finds in Luca’s lodging leads him in a different direction. Assisted by Augustus Rumbolt, an Englishman making his Grand Tour, Tito is soon on the trail of Dr. Palantinus, a masked figure who heads a secret society that charges exorbitant fees to partake of its enticing rituals. Who wears the mask of Palantinus? The director who guides Tito to operatic triumph, the fastidious nobleman charged with making the theater profitable, a fiery contralto, or the stage manager who hides a double life? The hunt pierces the treacherous depths of the city, one dedicated to masquerade and pleasure. A city where ancient hatreds thrive and cultures uneasily coexist—a city where opera is the stuff of daily life.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Set in 1730s Venice, Myers's second baroque mystery skillfully guides the reader past the dangers of fame to the nature of music and love, fulfilling the promise of her well-received debut, Interrupted Aria (2004). At the Teatro San Marco, soprano castrato Tito Amato is struggling with his demotion to lesser roles when the strangled body of Luca Cavalieri, a talented if unscrupulous set designer and painter, turns up in a canal. Suspicion points to his lover, Liya Del'Vecchio, a "Jewess" whom Tito falls for on sight. When the opera company director asks Tito to investigate Cavalieri's murder, he's only too glad to comply. Accompanied by Augustus "Gussie" Rumbolt, a younger son of English nobility on the grand tour, he explores the first European ghetto. All foreigners are suspect and restricted in the fading sun of Venetian trading pre-eminence, but only Jews are locked up at night in the old ironworks. When a rabble-rousing, pseudonymous pamphlet accuses Liya's cousin of the murder and poisoning wells, Tito gets mixed up in necromancy and secret societies as well. Myers provides an insightful and tender look at how those who are different—castrati, women, Jews—were treated at the time, as well as a wonderful view of elegant, decadent, nothing-is-as-it-seems-from-behind-the-masque Venice. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistMyers' second Baroque mystery returns readers to eighteenth-century Venice, where castrato soprano Tito Amato is again preparing for an opera role at Teatro San Marco--but not the lead. After a bout of diva excess, Tito is replaced as the star by famous visiting castrato, Francesco Florio, an even bigger diva. Humbly taking responsibility for his own actions, Tito begins working hard to get his voice back in top shape while gracefully dodging the taunts of Florio. Meanwhile, scene-painter Luca Cavalieri goes missing, and theater-director Torani asks Tito to investigate. Jumping at the chance to restore the maestro's faith in him, Tito sets off with his new English friend, Gussie Rumbolt, to find Luca. Along the way, Myers exposes readers to a dark side of Venice: prejudice. Often a victim of ridicule himself, Tito's heart aches for the Jews, who are forced to live in a locked ghetto and treated with contempt. Like a grand opera, Myers' story transports readers to a fascinating world of glamour, deceit, intrigue, and passion. Bravo! Jenny McLarinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Tito Amato Mystery #3
3 - Cruel Music
Beverle Graves Myers
Tito Amato returns from an operatic tour expecting to relax with his family. Instead he finds his merchant brother Alessandro imprisoned on a trumped-up smuggling charge, a capital crime in 1740 Venice. The senator who controls Alessandro’s fate is determined to have a Venetian as the next pope. He forces Tito to Rome to sing at the villa of a powerful, music-loving cardinal who will control the coming papal election. Spying as he serenades Cardinal Fabiani and his guests, Tito peers into the dark mirror of Roman politics. Pope Clement XII is sinking fast, and two candidates emerge as leading contenders for St. Peter’s throne. Will Fabiani support the highborn Venetian whose secret passion is tinkering with electrical experiments? Or the humble cardinal with the gift of healing and a mysterious past? The discovery of a beautiful corpse in Fabiani’s garden complicates Tito’s mission. Fabiani believes that a member of his household killed the young maid in a fit of madness, but Tito follows clues that indicate a more complex motive, assisted by his irrepressible manservant Benito and Englishman Gussie Rumbolt. From the heights of the Janiculum Hill to the muddy waters of the Tiber, from a cozy Trastevere cookshop to the chilly corridors of the Quirinal Palace, the trio wrestles with events that could change the course of history. Can Tito stop the killer and affect the election before Pope Clement takes his last breath? Or will Alessandro face the scaffold?
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Tito Amato Mystery #4
4 - The Iron Tongue of Midnight
Beverle Graves Myers
In September of 1740, singer Tito Amato receives a curious invitation. The German composer Karl Johann Weber is rehearsing a new opera at an isolated villa nestled in the hills of the Venetian mainland. Would Tito accept the lead role? Puzzled by the air of secrecy that enshrouds the production, but attracted by a generous fee, Tito agrees. Artist Gussie Rumbolt, Titos friend and brother-in-law, has also been summoned to paint scenes of the estates grape harvest. The two men find the countryside awash with the golden hues of autumn, but the bucolic mood quickly turns menacing when a notorious figure from Titos past turns up at the villa. That night, at the stroke of twelve, a soprano stumbles over a stranger who has been beaten to death with the clock pendulum. With the local constable away on a boar hunt, the midnight murderer strikes with impunity, raising terror to a fevered crescendo. Ever faithful to the ideals of truth and justice, Tito pursues his own quest for answersa quest that leads straight into the painful secrets of his heart and beyond. The Iron Tongue of Midnight is the fourth novel in Myers Baroque Mystery series. It follows Cruel Music.
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Tito Amato Mystery #5
5 - Her Deadly Mischief
Beverle Graves Myers
Venice, 1742. Tito Amato has regained his zest for performing and is once again singing lead roles at the Teatro San Marco. On opening night, the famous castrato has the entire audience entranced—except for one box with its scarlet curtains stubbornly drawn. Annoyed at being ignored, Tito aims the full force of his golden throat at the fourth-tier box. He is astounded when the curtains part and a woman tumbles over the railing. The victim is Zulietta Giardino, a mischievous courtesan involved with a young glass maker. As Tito was the only one to see the masked man who pushed Zulietta to her death, the chief of Venice’s rudimentary police force requests the singer’s assistance. Did a wager over a rival courtesan’s jewels spell Zulietta’s death? Or did the motive involve sinister events in the glass factories of Murano? Tito faces troubles of a different sort at home. His upstanding neighbors regard his household as an immoral den of theatrical riffraff and disdain his wife, Liya, as an apostate Jew. While Liya attempts to reconcile with her disapproving family, Tito strives to be a good father to his adopted son. The singer’s difficulties collide when the masked killer transfers his vengeance to Tito’s loved ones.From Publishers WeeklyVenice's Teatro San Marco opera house forms the dramatic backdrop for the start of Myers's absorbing fifth historical to feature castrato Tito Amato (after 2008's The Iron Tongue of Midnight). On the opening night of Torani's Armida, Tito has the audience in his thrall, except for the occupants of a fourth-tier box with its scarlet curtains drawn. Keen to attract their attention, Tito projects his voice in the direction of the closed box. Suddenly, the curtains part, and he sees a masked man struggling with a woman, later identified as Zulietta Giardino, a conniving courtesan. Pushed by her assailant, Zulietta falls to her death into the orchestra pit. Tito and his wife, Liya, who shares a similar background to Zulietta, take a personal interest in her case. Encouraged by Tito, Liya hesitantly returns to the Jewish ghetto of her childhood to investigate, and unexpectedly begins to reconcile with the family that once shunned her. As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life." --Publishers Weekly on Her Deadly Mischief"An interrupted aria at the Teatro San Marco, 1742. Tito Amato, the principal castrato at Venice's main opera venue, is midway through the debut performance of Armida when a spectator tumbles into the pit from the fourth tier. Zulietta Giardino, a much-admired courtesan, had been sitting in the box of Alessio Pino, handsome son of the isle of Murano's master glassmaker. With everyone's gaze on the stage, Tito, looking toward the audience, is the only eyewitness. As he tells the Messer Grande, chief of the Venetian constabulary, he saw a very tall, caped intruder, masked for carnevale, struggling with Zulietta just before she fell. When Tito recounts the evening's events to his wife Liya, a Jewess disowned by her family for the indiscretion that resulted in her son Titolino, she joins him in researching Zulietta's background, rooted in the Jewish ghetto. Meanwhile, Tito and the Messer Grande investigate Zulietta's staff, which includes Pamarino the dwarf; her many lovers; and her rival La Samsona, who had wagered Zulietta her cache of diamonds that she would be the first to sit in Alessio's box. With barely enough time to rehearse a new opera, Tito and Liya confront rampant anti-Semitism, the kidnapping of Titolino and more death before Venice simmers down. The mystery is serviceable enough, but the real accomplishment of Myers (The Iron Tongue of Midnight, 2008, etc.) is her rendering of 18th-century Venice." - Kirkus 7/1/2009(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)Publishers Weekly (07/13/2009):"Venice's Teatro San Marco opera house forms the dramatic backdrop for the start of Myers's absorbing fifth historical to feature castrato Tito Amato (after 2008's The Iron Tongue of Midnight). On the opening night of Torani's "Armida", Tito has the audience in his thrall, except for the occupants of a fourth-tier box with its scarlet curtains drawn. Keen to attract their attention, Tito projects his voice in the direction of the closed box. Suddenly, the curtains part, and he sees a masked man struggling with a woman, later identified as Zulietta Giardino, a conniving courtesan. Pushed by her assailant, Zulietta falls to her death into the orchestra pit. Tito and his wife, Liya, who shares a similar background to Zulietta, take a personal interest in her case. Encouraged by Tito, Liya hesitantly returns to the Jewish ghetto of her childhood to investigate, and unexpectedly begins to reconcile with the family that once shunned her. As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life. "(Sept.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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Tito Amato Mystery #6
6 - Whispers of Vivaldi
Beverle Graves Myers
Venice, 1745—an age of reckless pleasures, playful artifice, and baroque excess. An accident has reduced Tito Amato’s glorious singing voice to a husky croak. A tragedy— but also an opportunity. The once celebrated male soprano is now determined to prove himself as a director. With the theater losing subscribers to a rival company headed by an unscrupulous impresario, San Marco’s Maestro Torani charges Tito with locating the perfect opera to fill the seats in time for the opening of Carnival.Surprisingly, a second-rate composer provides the very thing—an opera so replete with gorgeous melodies the public speculates it was written by the late Antonio Vivaldi. Even more disconcerting are the rumors swirling around Angeletto, a male soprano imported from Naples to sing the lead. Is the singer truly a castrato or a female soprano engaging in a daring but lucrative masquerade?Both matters lead the perplexed Tito into dangerous waters that turn murderous when Maestro Torani undergoes a series of increasingly vicious attacks ending in his death. And Tito is the prime suspect. His own life as well as the future of Teatro San Marco now depend on his skills as a sleuth…. **
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