Here is a list of favorite murder mysteries set in the theater, concert halls or opera houses. Get out your top hat, white spats and rhinestone opera glasses. We’re off to the theater!

Murder in the Brasses (The Madoc and Janet Rhys Mysteries Book 4) by Alisa Craig. Although he is a decorated officer of the Mounted Police, Madoc Rhys’s tin ear has long been an embarrassment to his musically fixated family. But when his father’s orchestra needs a policeman, the Mountie gets a chance to make his parents proud. It began as pranks among the brass instruments, but something is rotten inside the Wagstaffe Symphony, and is about to graduate to something criminal.

Ruddy Gore: A Phryne Fisher Mystery by Kerry Greenwood. The lead in Ruddigore is dressed for death, as the performance is interrupted by a most bizarre onstage murder. Phryne must solve an old murder, find a new murderer and banish the theater’s ghost.

Theater Nights Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book 4) by Libby Klein. Fun isn’t the word I usually apply to murder, but this book made me smile. Aunt Ginny’s long-ago high-school beau, Royce Hanson, a retired Broadway actor, has returned to Cape May to star in a Senior Center staging of Mamma Mia. The production seems to be cursed—with stolen props, sabotage, and even a death threat. But when a cast member plunges to his death from a catwalk, it is clear a murderer is waiting in the wings.

Murder at the Opera: A Capital Crimes Novel by Margaret Truman. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings . . . but the show hasn’t even started yet when a diva is found dead. Crime-fighting couple Mac Smith and Annabel Reed-Smith must dig into the behind-the-scene drama at the Washington National Opera. This series is one of my mom’s favorites.

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny. No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.” But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec.

Dancers in Mourning (The Albert Campion Mysteries) by Margery Allingham.  There’s only one man who can get to the bottom of the apparent vendetta against the music hall darling and that is gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Soon, however, the backstage pranks escalate, and an aging starlet is killed.

And some dark horse entries for the Murder In The Theater category…

Death to Slow Music (A Mr. Green Mystery) by Beverley Nichols. I adore Beverley Nicholas who was an author, avid gardener and a wit ala Noel Coward. Nigel Fleet, a composer of operettas, is working on his latest show when interrupted by a murder. It falls to the humble Mr Green to unravel the threads and identify a murderer. This story is definitely a period piece and is not yet in Kindle format.

Black’s Beach Shuffle: A Rolly Waters Mystery by Corey Lynn Fayeman. Rolly Waters is a recovering rock musician and part-time private eye. One night his band performs at a blowout party for EyeBitz.com, a fast-rising Internet startup.  When Rolly returns after hours to retrieve his guitar from the host’s mansion, he finds a dead body floating in the swimming pool.

Of course, I have a mystery that fits this category. Requiem at Christmas: A Christmas Mystery Book (Miss Henry Cozy Mysteries 3).  Miss Henry is looking forward to attending the Requiem Mass written by her neighbor which was being performed at the Lake Tahoe Celtic Festival. But her plans go awry when she is stranded by a blizzard on a back road and finds herself the only the witness to a murder. Her woes are further compounded when the corpse disappears.

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