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Life is good once again for castrato Tito Amato. He has a family who loves him. He is singing lead roles again at the Teatro San Marco. What could possibly go wrong? Funny you should ask. On opening night, during his big scene, one box in the Teatro blatantly ignores Tito's skill. So he focuses his considerable voice at that fourth-tier only to have the curtains open and a woman fall to her death. Tito looks the killer in the eyes, and thus becomes involved in HER DEADLY MISCHIEF. There is a new chief of police in Venice, Messer Grande. He wants to know what Tito saw, and asks him to look at various suspects to see if they match Tito's impressions. He is willing to concede that Tito may bring valuable assets to the case, which is gratifying for Tito. He is more than happy to help Messer Grande. As the investigation proceeds, the family of a Murano glass-maker becomes involved. The son was Zulietta's romantic interest, and he believed they were truly in love. He was well aware of the wager Zulietta had made with another courtesan, Samsona, involving jewels and his own affections. So did Samsona kill Zulietta for the jewels and bragging rights? Did Cesare Pino kill her to prevent his son from making an incredibly bad match, and to keep her from ruining his plans for an alliance with another noble family? Zulietta, it turns out, is the daughter of a family known to Liya, Tito's wife. This case becomes a way for Liya to make peace with her family. Her father is willing to meet her half-way, but her mother still has a lot of anger about Liya becoming an apostate Jew, embracing another faith, and being involved with Tito. The family dynamics are complex, particularly where Liya's son Titolino is involved. This is the fifth book in Myers' Baroque Mystery series; Myers knows who Tito is, what's important to him, and where he's come from. She is very comfortable writing about his world. This comfort manifests itself in the ease with which she sets out setting and peripheral characters, as well as in her ability to have plots that work well in the time period about which she writes. My only complaint, and it's fairly minor, is that I would have liked to see Tito's empathy for Zulietta's dwarf manifest itself in actions, not just in thought.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, June 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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