By David Amos
SAN DIEGO — If you love opera and enjoy a good mystery novel, this book is for you.
Murder in the Pit by Erica Miner is a murder-intrigue story which takes place at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. What is really a lot of fun is to follow the fictional plot of fictional characters, as seen from the eyes of a young violinist who plays in the orchestra, the music that is performed, and the entanglement of relationships she encounters.
Erica Miner is beautifully suited to write about this. She was a violinist in the Met Orchestra for many years and after her performing career was prematurely ended by a car accident, she turned her vast experience and imagination to writing fiction; the results have been two successful novels, the award-winning Travels With My Lovers, FourEver Friends, and her latest creation, Murder at the Pit. She has won awards and/or placed in such competitions as WinFemme, Santa Fe, and the Writers’ Digest. Her essays and articles have appeared in Vision Magazine, WORD San Diego, and numerous newsletters and E-zines.
A native of Detroit, Erica Miner studied music at Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center, after which she won a permanent position as a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra of New York. She recently moved to San Diego County, continues to write books and screenplays, and is very active in the lecture circuit, talking about her first love, the great operas of the masters. I have also enjoyed listening to her incisive commentaries of operatic and orchestral matters on XLNC Classical Radio, 104.9 FM.
As the back cover of the book tells us about Murder in the Pit, “Julia Kogan, a brilliant young violinist, teams up with opera-loving cop Larry Somers to solve the high profile murder of a famous opera conductor. In the process, Julia and Larry discover an opera house rife with a web of secrets, intrigue, lethal rivalries and danger”.
With my own adventures and war stories with guest engagements, recording sessions and performances in many venues, I certainly related very well to the dynamics and egos that prevail with orchestral musicians, egomaniacal administrators, stage crews with attitudes, and above all, star conductors and soloists who develop an insane sense of power and dominance over others. What the general public perceives from being in the audience, witnessing the usually beautiful final product, is hardly the full story!
Another interesting and colorful aspect which opera lovers will enjoy is that every chapter starts with a quote from a famous opera, in the original language and with the English translation. Each quote relates to the chapter we are about to read and actually serves as a title to the part of the story which follows. There are many references to operas we know and love.
The book reads easily and fluently, and the constant references to great music peaked my interest even more. In the concluding section, just before when the villains reveal themselves, I found myself vigorously speculating as to who it might be. My curiosity and involvement progressively increased as the book reached its surprising conclusion.
To tell you any more, I would risk giving away the story. So, if you enjoy a good mystery story, you should find Murder in the Pit a most enjoyable experience.
This book is published by Twilight Times Books, Kingsport, Tennessee, and is available through Amazon, and the link is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidosASIN/1606191101/twilighttimesboo .
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Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and a guest conductor of numerous professional orchestras around the world.