Seattle, WA.—Camel Press is delighted to announce the release of Ding Dong the Diva’s Dead (246 pp, $16.95/paper, $24.95/cloth, ISBNs: 978-1-60381-807-0/978-1-60381-808-7), a cozy murder mystery by Cat Melodia that takes place in the world of struggling opera singers.
Night Owl Reviews has chosen the book as a Top Pick: 4.5 out of 5 stars: “This is a quirky and perky mystery with an operatic background. Things move along quickly throughout the story and each character is unique and different .... I liked this book and didn’t want to put it down.”
Deborah de Lille is an opera singer—in the least grand sense. Her future looks bleak ... until her agent finagles her a role with a small-town company. Offenbach’s spooky opera, Tales of Hoffmann, features three leading ladies. The cast is well-acquainted, and familiarity has bred contempt. Debbie is the outsider, and someone is hell-bent on driving her out with smoke bombs, ghostly visitations, and booby-traps. If she stays the course, will opening night mean “curtains” for Debbie?
The cover is illustrated by Stasia Kato Burrington, co-illustrator of the Virgin Project and the Virgin Project 2.
“I don’t think the general public realizes how unglamorous the lives of opera singers can be—at least those of the 99.9 percent who don’t hit the big time,” Melodia says. “The world of operatic also-rans is a goldmine of humor, peopled as it is with larger-than-life characters whose insecurity, desperation and envy make them unusually good murder suspects. Most of what happens in my book is unlikely in the extreme, but there is more truth to it than you might suppose.”
Cat Melodia is the nom de plume of a Seattle-based mezzo soprano and voice teacher. Like her heroine, she often wears the pants on stage. Three of her opera adaptations/translations have been performed at community colleges. She has a Bachelor’s Degree cum laude in German Literature from Princeton and a master’s in music. Check out her blog: DingDongDiva.Camelpress.com.
Ding Dong the Diva’s Dead is available in Kindle ($4.95) and print editions on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, and Amazon Japan. Bookstores and libraries can contact info@camelpress.com, Baker and Taylor, or Ingram. Other ebooks versions can be purchased on Smashwords ($4.95) or through most major distributors.