Staged For Murder

ASIN: B08L748R3C

In this sequel to Death by Opera, Violinist Julia Kogan, having survived murderous mayhem at the Santa Fe Opera, heads to the San Francisco Opera with her significant other, former NYPD detective Larry Somers, and their five-year-old daughter Rachel. There, Julia finds that fiery artistic temperaments can still result in murder.

Chapter 1

Present Day

Alberich
Das Licht lösch ich euch aus,
entreiße dem Riff das Gold,
schmiede den rachenden Ring
I extinguish your light,
seize the gold from the rock,
and forge the vengeful ring

Wagner, Das Rheingold, Scene One

They were crossing the street now. He could see them, so involved in their opera talk that they weren’t paying attention.
Good.
Everyone knew that the corner of Franklin and McAllister, the nearest main crossing to the stage door of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, was one of the busiest in the entire Civic Center district; especially at twilight, when people were leaving work. Once the gilded California light began to wane, it was sometimes hard to see where one was going—or to perceive what and who might be in the immediate vicinity.
Performers from the Opera could not avoid crossing that intersection multiple times, day and night. Pedestrian accidents were not that common there, but they did happen.
Common enough.
With the driver’s seat window open, he could hear fragments of their conversation. How he despised that voice; the voice of an operatic tenor who was so arrogant, so full of himself, that he strode about the stage as if he owned it; that he looked down on anyone who wasn’t an opera star like himself.
Especially me.
Andres the tenor spoke as he sang: as if he were telling the world that he, Andres, was the gods’ gift to opera. He strutted around, owning, claiming the stage—and every other opera stage in the world—for himself.
He doesn’t deserve to be a star. Maestro Merola, our sainted founder, would never have put up with such egregious affectation.
But Maestro Merola had been taken from the company much too soon.
The Maestro was a saint—a saint who didn’t deserve to die before his time.
He wiped away a tear. Then, remembering the afternoon’s rehearsal, he clenched his teeth. The repulsive behavior Andres exhibited that day proved he had not changed one whit since his previous engagement years ago with the company. Arguing with the stage director, the conductor. He still spoke as if he existed in some lofty echelon miles above everyone else, in some kind of Valhalla of his own making.
That bastard. The world will be a better place without him.
The traffic signal changed to yellow, and he could see that Andres and Ben were only halfway across the intersection.
Perfect.
Their light turned red, and his turned green. It was time. Bearing down on the accelerator he hugged the right lane, trying to aim for Andres without hitting Ben. He had no gripe with Ben, but if he became collateral damage, well…
Peccato.
It would be a shame. But sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good: getting rid of Andres once and for all.
The impact was swift and hard. He felt the thud of metal striking skin and muscle and bone. He didn’t look back, just raced through the intersection, weaving through cars, heading straight north on Franklin. He wasn’t concerned about onlookers looking up Franklin in his direction. The street’s incline was relatively steep around Opera Plaza, and he knew any potential witnesses would not be able to see much further ahead. Once he cleared their line of vision, he would be out of sight.
Bristling with tension, he wiped one clammy palm, then the other, on his jacket. He quickly glanced around. No one seemed to be following him, and traffic ahead was light, as he had hoped. He could slow down and act normal.
He was home free.
Would the “accident” be featured on KTVU Evening News? In the headlines, tomorrow morning?
He relished the thought that when he returned to the opera house the next day, voices would be buzzing with theories about who could possibly have wanted to harm Andres Aaberg, the great Wagnerian tenor.
Who indeed?

Violinist turned author ERICA MINER now has a multi-faceted career as an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and lecturer. A native of Detroit, she studied violin with Boston Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Joseph Silverstein at Boston University where she graduated cum laude; the New England Conservatory of Music; and the Tanglewood Music Center, summer home of the Boston Symphony, where she performed with such celebrated conductors as Leonard Bernstein and Erich Leinsdorf. Erica went on to perform with the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Company for 21 years, where she worked closely with renowned maestro James Levine.

When injuries from a car accident spelled the end of her musical career, Erica drew upon her lifelong love of writing for inspiration and studied screenwriting in New York and Los Angeles with script gurus Linda Seger and Ken Rotcop. Erica’s screenplays have won awards in a number of recognized competitions such as WinFemme, Santa Fe and the Writer’s Digest.

Inspired by journals she wrote during her travel adventures abroad, Erica penned the novel and screenplay of Travels With My Lovers, winner of the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. She also has written the feature screenplay and TV Series Bible for FourEver Friends, the first in her journal-based novel series chronicling four teenage girls' coming of age in Detroit in the volatile 1960s. Subsequent novel in the series are set in Boston and New York. In addition, Erica has written the screenplay of her mystery novel Murder In The Pit, now renamed Aria for Murder, released in Oct., 2022 by Level Best books, which takes place at the Met Opera. The sequel, Prelude to Murder, set at Santa Fe Opera, releases in Sept., 2023. The next sequel, which takes place at San Francisco Opera, will release in Oct., 2024.

Erica's lectures, seminars and workshops on writing and on opera have received kudos in venues worldwide, including: pre-concert lectures for the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall; the Wagner Societies of New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Northern California, North Carolina and Sydney, Australia; the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Washington; for the Creative Retirement Institute at Edmonds College near Seattle; and on the High Seas, where Erica was named a top-rated speaker for both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines. Her wide-ranging topics range from "The Art of Self Re-Invention" to "Journaling for Writers: Mining the Gold of Your Own Experiences”, "Wagner and Bernstein: Parallels and Contrasts", "Opera Meets Hollywood"; Shakespeare and the Opera Composers Who Loved Him; and numerous others.

Now a well recognized reviewer for Seattle Opera and San Diego Opera, as well as San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet among many others, Erica is a regular contributor of articles, reviews and interviews to:
- BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld Articles
- Bachtrack Bachtrack Articles
- LAOpus LAOpus Articles
- OperaPulse.com OperaPulse.com Articles

Erica's writings also have appeared in Leitmotive, the magazine of the Wagner Society of Northern California, Italian American Magazine, San Diego Jewish Journal, Del Mar Lifestyle, Opera+ St. Petersburg Music & Art Magazine, Vision Magazine, WORD San Diego, Istanbul Our City, and numerous E-zines.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Author Releases Third Novel in “Opera Mystery” Series
Prestigious San Francisco Opera is setting for widely read sequel

(EDMONDS, Washington) Oct. 21, 2020 – Award-winning Edmonds author and former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner has released Staged for Murder, the newest sequel in her popular “Opera Mystery” novel series. Published by Twilight Times Books, the novel is set at the esteemed San Francisco Opera.

“Erica draws fully on her own experience as a longtime violinist at the Metropolitan Opera as she allows us a candid glimpse at this eccentric art form’s inner world,” says Kip Cranna, Dramaturg Emeritus of San Francisco Opera.

Staged for Murder chronicles the further adventures of Metropolitan Opera violinist Julia Kogan. Having survived murderous mayhem in previous novels at both the Met and Santa Fe Opera, Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera with her significant other, former NYPD detective Larry Somers, and their five-year-old daughter Rachel. There, Julia finds that fiery artistic temperaments can still result in murder. In these days of pandemic-driven shut-down opera theatres, opera aficionados and mystery lovers alike long for a peek into this unique atmosphere. According to San Francisco Opera House Head John Boatwright, “Anyone who loves the romance of opera and opera houses will enjoy Staged for Murder.”

Amidst the inevitable ego-driven conflicts and emotionally fraught tensions that Julia has discovered are inherent in the art form, the stage is indeed set for murder. “But can she leave murder behind? Or rather, will murder fail to follow her?” asks Cranna. “Prepare yourself to be drawn inexorably into her engrossing account of deadly deeds behind the big gold curtain in the City by the Bay.”

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For more information, please visit https://www.ericaminer.com.
For press inquiries or for high-resolution images, please contact Erica Miner at eminer5472@gmail.com.

About Erica Miner: Formerly a violinist at the Metropolitan Opera, Erica Miner is now a full-time award-winning writer, screenwriter, lecturer and journalist. She regularly contributes to major arts websites and presents her opera lectures on both coasts. Her “Opera Mystery” novel series, based on her own experience as a longtime violinist at the Met, allows a candid glimpse at this eccentric art form’s inner world.