#Spotlight & #Excerpt Murder Backstage (A Joseph Haydn Mystery #4) by Nupur Tustin

August 8, 2022 Fee Great Escapes Book Tours

Murder Backstage: A Joseph Haydn Mystery
by Nupur Tustin

About Murder Backstage

Murder Backstage: A Joseph Haydn Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting – In Vienna’s Burgtheater in the eighteenth century.
Foiled Plots Press (July 6, 2022)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 348 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B34548N5

When murder propels him backstage, Haydn is forced to confront a deadly killer. . .

When the Burgtheater’s impresario unexpectedly meets his maker, Joseph Haydn is relieved to learn no one expects him to look into the matter. The impresario was murdered—and the Salzburger believed to be the killer is already behind bars.

But the impresario’s untimely death is not without consequences. Haydn’s employer insists he take over the dead man’s duties. Handling the tedious technical details of putting on an opera is bad enough. Confronting the suspicious behavior backstage is even worse.

Is an innocent man being sent to the gallows? Haydn is plagued by the question when his brother Michael confirms his worst fears. The Salzburger arrested for the murder is none other than Leopold Mozart—father of the well-known child prodigy currently in Vienna.

Now, egged on by Michael—a close friend of the Mozarts—Haydn must prove Leopold innocent. Or risk his brother’s ire forever!

Praise for the Joseph Haydn Mysteries:
“Tustin orchestrates a concerto of intrigue and deception . . .”
– Anna Lee Huber, Lady Darby Mysteries

“A standout in the genre of historical mysteries . . .”
– Midwest Book Reviews

Purchase Links:

NTUSTIN/SHOP: https://ntustin.com/product/murder-backstage

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Excerpt

The plot for this story was taken from an incident described in Leopold Mozart’s letters. Determined to get his son the recognition the boy deserved, Leopold had his heart set on young Wolfgang writing and conducting an opera. The opera—La finta semplice—was written, but Affligio, the impresario of the Burgtheater, was against—unreasonably, in Leopold’s opinion—having it performed. As strongly as Leopold pushed for its performance, so strongly did Affligio resist putting it on. Until eventually, Affligio made his intentions clear—if Leopold insisted upon “prostituting” his child, Affligio would make sure the opera was booed off the stage! In this final excerpt, join Haydn and Michael as they arrive at the Mozarts’ door:

The woman who answered their knock on the door was tall and plump, garbed in a russet-colored, silk-lined gown with her blond hair neatly styled under a fine black lace cap.

“Herr Haydn!” The woman’s dark eyes widened as she took a step back to let her visitors in. “You will help us, then? God have mercy on your soul!”

A short, blue-eyed boy, as fair-skinned and blond as the woman, stepped up. “I knew you would realize Papa is innocent. Now it’s just a matter of convincing that dour ass of an Archbishop to do his duty and get Papa out of prison.”

“Wolferl, your manners!” Frau Mozart gasped at the same time as Michael patted the boy on his head, saying: “There, there, my boy. Disrespecting one’s elders and betters never did one any good.”

The boy—no more than an adolescent, Haydn realized—snorted. “If only His Buffoonship were worthy of respect.”

“That’s enough, Wolfgang,” his mother chided. “Insulting His Grace won’t do your father any good.” She pointed toward the stairs. “Tell Katherl we have guests. Ask her to bring up a fresh pot of coffee and some of the Apfelstrudel we had last night.”

“Why not send Nannerl down?” the boy complained. “It is a woman’s job after all.” But he tripped down the stairs, nonetheless.

Haydn smiled indulgently after the boy and then turned to his mother. “You have your hands full, I see.”

The walls of his own house were doomed to be devoid of the eager voices of children. The Mozarts, despite their trouble, were blessed with a treasure far greater than any gold a man could earn. His remark had been intended as much to distract the good woman as to remind her of what she had.

Frau Mozart smiled wearily back at him. “He’s a good enough boy, our Wolferl, and he means well, for all that he’s impulsive.” There were tired lines and shadows under her eyes, Haydn noticed, and she seemed to will herself to stand erect rather than let her shoulders sag under the weight of their present burden. . .

About Nupur Tustin

A former journalist, Nupur Tustin misuses a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate mayhem in Joseph Haydn’s Austria and to paint intrigue in her Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries about a psychic who takes on the outrageous and still unsolved Gardner Museum theft! In addition to being a storyteller and avid mystery fan, Nupur is a wife and homeschooling Mom who’s recently become a Christian.

Author Links

Website: https://ntustin.com Get Two Complimentary Mystery Anthologies and two 50% Off Coupons When You Sign Up!
Blog: https://ntustin.com/blog
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61229641-murder-backstage
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/murder-backstage-a-joseph-haydn-mystery-joseph-haydn-mystery-series-book-4-by-nupur-tustin
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor

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