CELTICLADY'S REVIEWS: Murder Backstage: A Joseph Haydn Mystery by Nupur Tustin Book Tour with Excerpt!

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

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.

Excerpt 3:

Haydn’s troubles are far from over. He’s expected to act as technical director and stage manager for his own opera as well as two others. The impresario’s death seems odd—and the behavior of the performers and stagehands even more suspicious. And just at this juncture, his middle brother, Michael, comes in with far worse news. The man arrested for the impresario’s murder is none other than Leopold Mozart, a violinist of note and father of the prodigiously gifted Wolfgang, who is already taking the world by storm:

Michael clasped his hands over his round stomach. “Leopold will go to the gallows if the matter is not thoroughly examined, Joseph. An innocent man will hang for a crime he did not commit.”

The thought did not sit well with Haydn’s conscience. But he could hardly take on the task of defending Leopold. Was he not already burdened—overburdened, if one were being honest—with as much as any man could shoulder?

“Speak with von Beer,” he began to say when Michael interrupted tetchily.

“What good will that do? He is convinced he has his man and will look no further. By the by”—Michael’s eyes narrowed again as he searched Haydn’s features—“what took you to him this morning, if not to protest Leopold’s innocence?”

“I—” Haydn hesitated, loath to admit the suspicions he had entertained all morning—suspicions that pointed everywhere other than the Salzburger. Michael’s eyes continued to bore into his very soul.

“Can the Archbishop not help?” he asked helplessly. How could any man of honor stand by while the police hauled a man in his service off to prison?

Michael shook his head. “The Archbishop has long been in search of an excuse to rid himself of Leopold. Now that he has it, His Grace will not give up this opportunity so very easily.”

Haydn leaned back wearily, thrusting his fingers into his wig and nearly pulling the thing off his head. Dear God, what had he gotten himself into?

“There must be some other way, Michael.” He cast a desperate glance at the contracts strewn upon the desk. When would he have time to peruse them? “I cannot—”

“Frau Mozart and her children stand to lose everything if Leopold is not restored, Joseph. His reputation is destroyed, his sole source of income gone—”

“His pension?”

“The Archbishop refuses to grant it to the poor woman. He says by virtue of his criminal act, Leopold has forfeited any claims he or his family may have to it!”

If it were just a matter of defending Leopold’s honor, Haydn might have successfully fought the urge to help. But how could he stand by and do nothing when there was a woman involved—a helpless mother with her young children?

“Very well,” he said, cursing himself for the softness of his heart.

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