Guest Blogger ~ Erica Miner

Overture to Murder: a violinist who won’t quit sleuthing

It’s strange how a standalone mystery can evolve into a series. I started off with just one book, Aria for Murder, inspired by my 21 years of experience playing violin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The protagonist, young violinist Julia, trades her violin for a detective’s hat as she finds herself investigating murders that take place on and offstage. I had fun weaving real operas into the mystery plot and was gratified at the number of readers who told me they enjoyed learning about opera for the first time. It never occurred to me to write a sequel until one of my fans asked me for one. As a savvy opera aficionado who knew the opera world inside out, he even specified that Book 2 should take place at the Santa Fe Opera.

I jumped at the idea. Though I had never visited Santa Fe, I knew that its opera house, an outdoor theatre set between two mysterious mountain ranges, would be the ideal setting for an opera mystery. Prelude to Murder was the result. While I was in Santa Fe researching the book, I met with a friend, the dramaturg of the San Francisco Opera who, when I revealed my work in progress, asked if I would be interested in writing a third mystery to take place at his company. Book 3, Overture to Murder,was born a year later.

In the story, a suspicious hit-and-run and subsequent backstage murder drive Julia to continue her relentless sleuthing as she investigates deadly secrets behind the music. Can she uncover the truth before the curtain falls on her family’s safety? The answers lie in Overture to Murder. As always, Julia manages to find trouble lurking in every dark hallway and back stairway of the San Francisco Opera, proving once again that an opera house is the perfect environment for mischief and mayhem.

But there were other reasons why I decided to set my third mystery at San Francisco Opera. First of all, San Francisco is one of the world’s most captivating cities. And it considers its opera only slightly less sacred than the Holy Grail. It’s totally an opera town. It’s also a city of mystery and suspense. Witness “Haunted SF Ghosts, Murder and Mystery: a dark and ghastly tour through the mysterious past of downtown alleys and streets. Get haunted by after-dark tales of strange deaths, ruthless villains, famed ghosts, and shocking assassins.” Oh yes. There’s more to the scary aspects of this city than meets the eye.

My most compelling motivation, however, was my personal history with San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time there, visiting close relatives and friends who have worked with this illustrious company. When I started researching Overture to Murder, I learned about the fascinating history connecting the opera company with the Gold Rush and other astonishing aspects of the city’s history. But this time, as my friend who had motivated my desire to write the mystery showed me the opera house from top to bottom, I developed a special new intimacy with the place. What I discovered was a theatre steeped in intrigue, with dark creepy basements, ancient creaky elevators, and terrifying catwalks; a place with its own ghosts, whose stories could curl your ears.

What better place to set a mystery?

Overture to Murder

High notes of suspense and danger as the curtain comes down on murder in the third novel of Erica Miner’s Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series. Young Metropolitan Opera violinist Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera to replace ailing concertmaster, Ben, who has suffered serious injuries in a hit-and-run accident. Julia suspects it was no accident, and when one prominent company member becomes the victim of a grisly murder, she cannot resist becoming involved in the investigation. As in her previous sleuthing at the Met and Santa Fe Opera in Books 1 &2, Julia finds danger lurking in the elegant but creepy San Francisco War Memorial Opera house and again finds herself face to face with a ruthless killer. But this time her courage is put to the test when the life of a precious family member is in even deeper peril.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Overture-Murder-Julia-Kogan-Mystery/dp/1685127819/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overture-to-murder-erica-miner/1146432661?ean=9781685127817

https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781685127817

Award-winning Seattle-based author, lecturer, screenwriter, and arts journalist Erica Miner believes opera theatres and fiery artistic temperaments are a chilling backdrop for murder, and perfect for creating fictional mischief! Drawing on her 21 years as a violinist at the famed Metropolitan Opera, Erica’s fanciful plot fabrications reveal the dark side of the fascinating world of opera in her Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series (Level Best Books): Aria for Murder (2022), finalist in the 2023 CIBA and Eric Hoffer Book Awards; Prelude to Murder (2023), a Distinguished Favorite in the 2024 NYC Big Book Awards;and Book 3, Overture to Murder (2024), a Distinguished Favorite in the 2025 Independent Press Awards.

Erica’s debut novel, Travels with My Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. Her screenplays have won awards in the Writer’s Digest, Santa Fe, and WinFemme competitions. When she isn’t plumbing the depths of opera houses for murderous mayhem, Erica frequently contributes reviews and interviews for the well-known arts websites https://classicalvoiceamerica.org, www.bachtrack.com, and www.BroadwayWorld.com.

Erica has lectured on opera and writing throughout the US, as well as in Australia.

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/erica.miner1

https://www.instagram.com/emwriter3/

Author Website:

https://www.ericaminer.com