The Kaspers of Denning Place

Only days before her opening night performance of Puccini's Suor Angelica at the Weehawken Grand Opera House, soprano Katherine Hanson, scheduled to sing the title role, is found dead in her apartment. While the circumstances of her death are suspicious, no one realizes that hers will be the first in a serious of murders-each corresponding to the scheduled operas of the current season. Indeed, it is the work of "The Opera Season Serial Killer." Through an offstage pastiche, the principal characters in Verdi's Othello, the second production of the season, symbolically reenact that tragic story-complete with false accusations of infidelity, murder by strangulation, and ultimately suicide. But a six-inch, green, poison dart, found at the scene, informs law-enforcement that this is simply another in what is becoming a series of serial killings. Through the remainder of the season, the resolute perpetrator ruthlessly and savagely slaughters innocent citizens, cast members and opera stars, as they portray (or represent) leading characters in the opera season line-up: Puccini's Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Verdi's Aida and Rigoletto. And for the season finale, Turandot, the dark villain even attempts an on-stage, before-a-live-audience, assassination of none other than the leading lady in the title role, herself. What drives this killer's depraved mind provides insight into his motivations-and ultimately the impetus for his own undoing. Investigating each crime and desperately seeking clues to prevent the next in the series of murders, is an effective posse of colorful, multi-dimensional characters: Detective Daniel J. Becky of the Hudson County DA's office, whose incessant appetite for the truth is only exceeded by his insatiable appetite for food; Michael C. Kasper, the inarguably handsome, local, TV news reporter and anchorman for Channel 12, WPIC; Michael's good-looking partner of 15 years, Allen Deur-Kasper ("Baby Bear"), head research librarian at the Weehawken Free Public Library; Chief Librarian, Clara P. Haupt, Allen's brilliant, quasi-alcoholic, (probably lesbian), uber-liberal boss; the township's inquisitive and talented Coroner, C. Malcolm Gibbs; Maxine Mesmer, Gossip Columnist for the Jersey Voice; Carlo Fiore, FBI District Director; and Mrs. Thelma Zeit-Klabber, Properties Manager for the Weehawken Grand Opera House. Entangled in the investigation are the remarkable residents of Denning Place: Michael and Allen-Deur-Kasper and their beloved canine companions; Spot, Michael's Dalmatian, with an inflated sense of his place in the universe; and Spotless, Allen's Westie, who is simply "always too exhausted" to care-as well as a short-term house guest, Maggie Mae, a loyal, loveable boxer-abandoned by the murder of her owner. Immersed in a bizarre world of Italian Opera performances, this novel-second in the series of "The Kaspers of Denning Place"-offers the reader all the stuff of dramatic musical theater: divine miracles, love triangles, lies and deceit, strangulations, military-style executions, leaps to the death, self-impalements, entombments, betrayals, hunchbacks, mistaken identity, and suicide. So settle into your specially reserved box seats, and prepare to be entertained, as the curtain rises on this emotionally charged, operatic crime drama-it's sure to leave you shouting "Bravo " at its finale.