Rehearsals are well underway for the eagerly awaited performance by the Chamber Opera Group of Lucca, led by the eccentric Contessa, with her cantankerous little dog and equally problematic housekeeper in tow. She is something of a leading light, but her singing angels prove to be far from heaven-sent and their private lives not nearly as sweet as their voices.

Not only are the two sopranos in desperate competition with each other and the mezzo-soprano close to complete emotional breakdown, but completing the lineup are a criminal antiques dealer and his illegally acquired screen, a fraudulent accountant and his mistress, and the brow-beaten cuckold with a loathing for his wife.

The Contessa, too, has her demons, revealed as the clock ticks towards the night of the performance. And all the time women are turning up dead and the police are no closer to finding the culprit.

The Author

Born in Islington, North London, Stuart Fifield carved a successful career as a concert soloist, singing baritone repertoire. He later ran a successful interior design consultancy, before retraining as a music teacher.

He lives in Rotherfield, East Sussex.