The Iron Tongue of Midnight: A Baroque Mystery
Beverle Graves Myers
Poisoned Pen Press
6962 E. First Ave., #103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
ISBN 9781590582329, $24.95, www.poisonedpenpress.com
This delightful murder mystery set in the mid-1700s Italian
countryside, takes the reader into a fascinating world of international
politics, distinctive cultures, and class behaviors of the time,
including civilized Venicians, nasty Turks, and even nastier Russians.
As an opera cast rehearses in the villa of their benefactor, midnight
murders begin to claim the lives of strangers and friends. Tito Amato, a
renowned castrato and amateur sleuth, is already intrigued about his
invitation to be a part of this performance, and discovers that the
mysterious murders have more to do with his unconventional family than
he could ever imagine.
Our inquisitive soprano is an extremely likeable main character,
and his logic is easy to follow. Tito, and his brother-in-law Gussie,
are clearly familiar with solving murders. When they start investigating
these, it does not take long for the trembles that were not there a
moment ago, the glances unnoticed by others, gossip, and surprise
encounters to reveal possible suspects. There is also a great sense of
adventure in the story, and I read it as a fun, who-dun-it, historical
travelogue, however, this approach did mean an important question was
answered adequately, but too easily. At the end of the book, however,
the author provides a surprising short note which made me reevaluate my
view, and think more seriously about people's tenacity to survive.
"The Iron Tongue of Midnight" would easily make a great
movie. It teaches about this time period in both Venice and other parts
of the world, the writing flows well, and the author does not get too
carried away with description. Research notes and suggestions are also
provided for those wishing to learn more about many aspects of the
1700s. I devoured this substantial book in one day and will not waste
any time locating the other books in the series as I learned a lot from,
and enjoyed, this engaging mystery story.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Midwest Book
Review Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.