Death of a Pooh-Bah — Karen Sturges

Phoebe Mullins's love of music took her around the world with her conductor husband, and more recently helped her solve a murder in an opera colony. Now her musical passion may prove instrumental in solving the case of another slain singer...if it doesn't prove to be her swan song.

A long-lost aunt's invitation brings Phoebe to Northampton, Massachusetts, and a post as stage manager of a lively community production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. But beneath the operetta's sweet harmonies and rollicking whimsy, she observes more than one sour note. Many in the cast have a grudge against Dr. E. Foster Ballard, whose pompous self-absorption makes him perfect for his role as Lord Pooh-Bah. But who hates him enough to stab him in the back with his own prized Japanese dagger? Could it be the feminist militants who've been protesting The Mikado's misogynist lyrics? His catty ex? Or one of the Three Little Maids who've had enough of his wandering hands? And what dark history did Phoebe's own aunt have with Ballard? Soon another corpse suggests E. Foster's killer has got a little list...and Phoebe's inquiries may just have put her at the top of it.