Spur of the Moment

Spur of the Moment by David Linzee, 323 pages

Mezzo-soprano Renata Radleigh is preparing for a minor role in the St. Louis Opera's avant garde production of Carmen when a bigwig donor is found dead. For the police and the court of public opinion, Renata's brother, Don, the SLO's main donor schmoozer, is the prime suspect, and while there's no love lost between the Radleigh siblings, Renata is convinced that her brother's innocent and starts digging around the donor's life to clear his name. Her investigation takes her into the competitive world of medical research and development at Adams University, where she suspects she'll find the truth.

I'll be completely honest: the main reason I checked out this book was to support Linzee, a UCPL patron, and someone I've worked with on various projects over the years. I'd never read any of his novels and I wasn't sure what to expect. What I discovered was a well-written, engaging murder mystery, with plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Renata is a fantastic heroine, and I genuinely hope that Linzee writes more books about her escapades as both an amateur detective and an opera performer. (I also hope to read about many more of the wacky opera productions; Linzee's kooky Carmen was hilarious.)