At the start of West's sophisticated second Emma Streat mystery (after 2007's Without Warning
), Emma, a former diva who still mourns her late husband as well as the loss of her singing voice and her house on the Connecticut River (“now a pile of bombed out rubble”), flies from Boston to Venice to stop her opera star niece, Vanessa Metcalf, from running away with a millionaire playboy who races cars. In Vanessa's opulent hotel room after a recital, Emma discovers the body of Vanessa's accompanist, Mark Dykstra, hanging from a curtain rod, an apparent suicide. Lord Andrew Rodale, a British spy and Emma's secret lover, lends a hand in her search for answers. When Emma returns home to Boston, she becomes ill with a mysterious virus. While some readers might wish for more action and less armchair detecting at times, all will cheer the courageous and stylish Emma, who typically dons an Hermès scarf when slipping into sleuthing mode. (Dec.)
