- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: New English Library Ltd; New edition edition (19 Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340649267
- ISBN-13: 978-0340649268
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.4 x 4 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 955,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
At a mist-shrouded villa on Lake Como, an Italian nobleman is grooming a young English tenor. One of them will die by violence. Enter Julian Kestrel, Regency dandy and amateur sleuth, in his fourth case.
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36 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Music and Murder On Lake Como
19 May 2000
Format:Paperback
This is a superb mystery. I just recently became acquainted with the books of Kate Ross, who recently died. Readers will enjoy the dramatic atmosphere of a villa on Lake Como and the welldrawn characters. Music lovers will also get a thrill out of this, because the plot focuses on opera singers and an unsolved murder. Julian Kestrel, a delightful aristocrat with an unusual past, and Dipper, his valet, travel to Italy to solve the mysterious death of a nobleman, who was a passionate lover of the opera. They are looking for the vanished tenor, Orpheo, who is suspected of the murder. Kestrel reminds me quite a bit of the Scarlet Pimpernel character.He is charming and a true gentleman, accompanied by his valet, of course. He becomes entranced with the lovely widow of the murdered nobleman and this romantic theme runs throughout the book. This combines plenty of melodrama and action. The reader will feel as they had gone back in time. This was one of the best historical mysteries I have read in a long time. Enjoy!
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Unusually deep and rich for a mystery
4 Aug 2002
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An Italian nobleman is murdered in 1821, but the authorities announce the death as a heart attack, fearing political unrest if the truth were known. It takes four more years before the true cause of death is revealed, even to the deceased's wife.
Julian Kestrel, an English "dandy" (and apparently in those days the word was not a disparagement), is traveling on the continent, and decides to try his hand at solving the murder. He is apparently experienced at such things, having been the hero of three (?) previous books by Ms. Ross, which I haven't read. So he travels to Italy, along with his somewhat curmudgeonly friend Dr. MacGregor, inveigles his way into the inner circle of the widow, and begins to detect.
Ross does a fine job of portraying the post-Napoleonic period in northern Italy, as its political intrigues run rampant even while the rich and famous are enjoying their operas, their villas, and other perquisites of their status. The murder plot is one of the most complex I have ever encountered in a mystery (and I have read hundreds of them). In fact, once the murder is solved and all the "good guys" rescued from danger, it still requires another 40 pages to explain all the events in the story. Those last 40 pages strike me as very slightly clumsy, as Julian goes from person to person, interviewing them all until every t has been crossed and every i dotted. Perhaps Ross didn't realize until she got to that point in the story, that there were dozens of loose ends to be tied up.
But the writing is excellent, the characters well drawn, and the motivations plausible. And again, the portrayal of the Italian society in that time period is particularly vivid and enjoyable. I second the grief of the previous reviewer who expressed disappointment upon learning of the death of the author, who apparently died while still in her early 40's. This book definitely made me want to go back and read the other Julian Kestrel novels, and I'm sorry that there won't be any more of them.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Great regency mystery with complex plot and characters.
29 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
"The Devil in Music", a wonderful Regency mystery set in Italy during the 1820s, is packed with well-drawn, complex characters and a plot that will keep the reader guessing until the end. The basics of the story: an Italian nobleman is murdered, the suspect a mysterious English tenor with the nom de plume "Orfeo" who has disappeared. Julian Kestral, the hero of previous adventures, decides to investigate the death five years later, leading to multiple suspects and surprises. The best part, in this reviewer's opinion, is the emphasis Ross puts on the historical background of Italy in the post-Napoleonic era: the treachery, the underground independence movements, the Austrian domination. Ross even lets the reader know the differences between the Italian dialects of the region. All in all, if you want murder, romance, and a taste of the Regency period, you couldn't do better than this novel, a "cut" above most examples of it's genre -- pun intended.
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