Prima Donna at Large

Paul had to do a lot of research to put this delightful story together and she has done a superb job of portraying historic opera stars in a fictional situation. Geraldine Ferrar is the heroine; Enrico Caruso and Arturo Toscanino share the action with fictional characters in this romp through murder at the Metropolitan Opera.Phillippe Duchon is an annoying, egotistical personality and everyone at the Met has just about had all they can take of him. Suddenly someone replaces his throat spray with ammonia. His vocal chords and his life are finished."Rico" Caruso is hard on the trail of the killer but Police Lt. O'Halloran of the NYPD threatens to lock him up if he doesn't quit meddling. Geraldine Ferrar takes over for Rico and the fearless and gorgeous diva throws caution to the wind to find the killer.This is lightweight entertainment, sheer delight with every turn of the page. Prepare to laugh out loud -- you'll dread finishing it.

This mystery is a follow on to the Cadenza for Caruso mystery. Caruso has been forbidden to interfere in a murder investigation by the police, so he convinces Geraldine Farrar, a soprano at the Met opera, to investigate for him. Narrated in the first person by Geraldine, the novel provides amusing portraits of many famous Met singers and the life they led in WWI New York City. Ms. Paul's portrait of Geraldine is apparently fairly close to the real thing -- a passionate, intelligent, witty, talented, and beautiful woman. Though not a big fan of opera (but a big fan of NYC), I enjoyed this humorous mystery tremendously. I liked it so much, that if I were not an honest woman, I'd have told the public library I lost the book and paid the fine. Hello, publishers! This is one of many vintage mystery novels that deserve to be back in print so a new generation can enjoy them!