Painted Veil: A Tito Amato Mystery

This book kept me entertained for a long weekend. Tito Amato is a really different detective and the other characters are interesting. I loved learning how things were in Venice at that time--especially the relations between the ghetto and the rest of the city. The plot had a lot of twists and turns, but wasn't overly complicated. Recommended.

Tito Amato makes another appearance in an exciting adventure set in 18th-century Venice. The plot focuses on the Jewish ghetto and the religious hatreds that poison the social climate of the time. Of course, the opera house is not ignored. Tito's investigations are hampered by an obnoxious visiting star who is determined to outdo him on the stage. Peopled with well-fleshed out characters, the plot that seems fairly simple at the start gradually turns more complicated and sinister as it builds to a satisfyingly theatrical conclusion. Painted Veil is an entertaining read for those who like historical mysteries.

The second installment of the Baroque Mystery series, "Painted Veil", brings 18th-century Venice to life in an engrossing tale of inflated egos, secret societies and religious predjudice. Tito Amato is back, smarting over losing his star billing at the opera house to a famous castrato from out of town. When the scene painter disappears, Tito jumps at the opportunity to get back into his frazzled director's good graces by finding the man. The painter's body soon surfaces in the lagoon during a citywide celebration. Some want to blame the Jews for the murder, as well as a host of other ills that bedevil the crumbling island city. As the long, hot summer drags on, tension mounts between Venice's Hebrew and Christian inhabitants mount. Nevertheless, Tito comes to suspect that Dr. Palantinus, the masked guru of a mystical society is the real villain. "Painted Veil" kept me enchanted with the narration of the charming, witty Tito. He's a singer as dedicated to finding justice as he is to regaining the mastery over his voice. All the characters were fully dramatized, and the setting was described in lush, but not overpowering detail. The plot presented a few interesting twists, but I did figure out the identity of the killer rather early. Overall, a very enjoyable read--one of those books you can get completely lost in.

Myers excels at providing us a view of Baroque Venice. Amato is a wonderful, realistic character, surrounded by the cast of the opera and his family. But we are also shown the dark and unpleasant side of this period and city and it's people. The story seems to start with a fairly simple mystery and lots of suspects, but soon turns into something much darker and more complex. This is a wonderful mix of music, mystery and history.

After debuting as a castrati (male soprano) three years ago in Venice, Tito Amato's career soared with plum roles at the state owned Teatro San Marco until now as he plays a significant but not the title role in a production of Cesare in Egitto. Tito allowed fame and the fawning of others to get to his head. He blames himself for his fall; failing to practice properly and allowing his conceited ego to enflame director Maestro Torani who chose vain Francisco Florio for the prime role. Torani asks Tito to find head scene artist Luca Cavalieri who has failed to come to work; he trusts the castrati to be discrete as he was during the INTERRUPTED ARIA affair. Seeing an opportunity to regain favor, Tito searches for the missing painter; Tito's acquaintance, visiting Englishman Gussie Rumboldt, joins him on the quest. They soon find their target dead, which leaves the opera house in jeopardy since the scenes will probably not be ready on time and the cloud of a homicide places everyone under suspicion, Tito and Gussie continue to investigate hoping to identify the killer in time to save the production. The second Baroque mystery is a delightful historical mystery that provides incredible insight into early eighteenth century Venice from mostly the perspective of the artists involved in an opera production. The story line is cleverly developed around Tito's attempts to recover from his fall from grace by sleuthing as he sees cooperating through detection as a means to regain favor with Torani. The who-done-it plays second banana to Beverle Graves Myers' aria that looks deep into opera circa 1734 Venice. Harriet Klausner