The Case of the Chrysanthemum Murders

Paris-Cincinnati, June 1965: Augusta McKee, former opera singer and professor of music for two Cincinnati colleges, is enjoying her idyllic European honeymoon with Homicide Detective Malcolm Mitchell--until the day a fellow faculty member at the Conservatory of Music, a violinist and member of the Chrysanthemum String Quartet, is found dead in the same Paris hotel where they are staying. Within a week, a second member of the same quartet dies in Cincinnati under suspicious circumstances.Why would anyone want to kill off a string quartet?--And more important, are the two remaining members in danger?Malcolm, lead investigator in the case, and amateur sleuth Augusta learn of a mysterious cellist whose dismissal from the group might be grounds for revenge-except Anton Portnov died a year earlier in an automobile accident.Then there's the flamboyant local artist and mystery writer who hints at Portnov not being who he claimed to be; while at the same time, a lovely young usher at the Cincinnati Summer Opera-with a mysterious past of her own-shows an unusual interest in the quartet's new cellist.Could either of these people be the killer?Malcolm and Augusta find themselves on the case in this gripping international murder mystery--uncovering clues and searching for suspects before the Chrysanthemum String Quartet plays their final note.