Tragedy comes to Allemonde when a bride dies only moments after she's married. Is it suicide or is it, as her groom insists, murder? Either way, this tragedy strikes the Allemonde Grand Ducal Police all the harder since both bride and groom are closely linked to the department. As the local opera theatre mounts its spring production of Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride, deaths continue to occur in the duchy, and Chief Inspector D.T. Giovanni must overcome his own grief in order to lead the investigation. Twists, turns, and several surprise appearances make the Case of the Battered Bride truly a Mystery on an Operatic Scale.