Murder at Spoleto Author:Maurice Thompson Murder At Spoleto Memorial Day brings with it Charleston?s Spoleto festival of theater and music. Maestro Jean-Louis Guérard is hired to raise funds for the 30th gala to premier two new works showcasing Charles Towne?s antebellum Nobility. When donations lag, Guérard turns to "Digits" Personnoni, a loan shark named for his habit of snipping o... more »ff the fingers of delinquent borrowers. On opening night, the municipal auditorium is packed as a macabre opera unfolds its tale of debauchery and miscegenation. The audience, whose ancestors the opera besmirches, is shocked and furious. In a horrific climax, the diva trips and falls into the pit, impaling herself on an antique bassoon. When a second premier results in a second actor dead, this time on a cross, and a third sees the prima ballerina collapsing in convulsions, football hero criminologist Bubba and Medical Examiner Mary Elizabeth team up to discover whodunit. Their sleuthing, when not sidetracked by romance, sparks a suspicion of poison in all three tragedies, and when shipping records reveal the arrival of large shipments of cyanide, terrorism takes center stage. Can the Spoleto festival survive with murder in the starring role? A denouement offering up a plethora of mayhem reveals the answer.« less
A good, easy read. A mystery novel set in Charleston SC with a focus on their theatre festival but with a CSI/Law and Order aspect. Not that thrilling/frightening, but definitely captivating.