A CADENZA FOR CARUSO

by Barbara Paul ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 6, 1984

Paul has offered genial diversion in several breezy mystery-comedies (e.g., Your Eyelids Are Growing Heavy)--but this attempt at period suspense, heavy on legendary greats in giddily fictional situations, is a cadenza full of false notes. Small-time blackmailer Luigi Davila, a hanger-on in the 1910 N.Y.C. opera world, is blackmailing none other than G. Puccini--who's in town for the premiere of Girl of the Golden West (with Caruso as tenor lead). So, when Davila is murdered, Puccini becomes a suspect. . . and Caruso turns detective to help his friend--making a mess of it, of course, but inadvertently turning up the killer in the process. Despite the lovingly researched backgrounds: an inane exercise--with a feeble excuse for a plot and the tritest dialogue imaginable coming out of the mouths of Toscanini, David Belasco, Gatti-Casazza, soprano Emily Destinn, and unfortunate others.

Pub Date: July 6, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION