Kathleen Marple Kalb debuts with the first book in a new historical mystery series set in Gilded Age New York and following the adventures of swashbuckling opera singer Ella Shane, an Irish-Jewish Lower East Side orphan who finds fame and fortune singing male "trouser roles." On the cusp of the twentieth century, Manhattan is a lively metropolis buzzing with talent. But after a young soprano meets an untimely end on stage, can one go-getting leading lady hit the right notes in a case of murder? New York City, 1899. When it comes to show business, Gilded Age opera singer Ella Shane wears the pants. The unconventional diva breaks the mold by assuming "trouser roles"--male characters played by women--and captivating audiences far and wide with her travelling theatre company. But Ella's flair for the dramatic takes a terrifying turn when an overacting Juliet to her Romeo drinks real poison during the final act of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Weeks after the woman's death is ruled a tragic accident, a mysterious English duke arrives in Greenwich Village on a mission. He's certain someone is getting away with murder, and the refined aristocrat won't travel back across the Atlantic until Ella helps him expose the truth. As Ella finds herself caught between her craft and a growing infatuation with her dashing new acquaintance, she's determined to decode the dark secrets surrounding her co-star's fatale finale--before the lights go dark and the culprit appears for an encore...

It’s easy to be overlooked in Gilded Age Manhattan, but the Ella Shane Opera Company’s latest premier manages to attract adoring crowds, rave reviews, and a killer who’s a real showstopper! New York City, Fall 1899. Ahead-of-her-time coloratura mezzo Ella Shane has always known opening night to be a mess of missed cues and jittery nerves, especially when unveiling a new opera. Her production of The Princes in the Tower, based on the mysterious disappearance of Edward IV’s two sons during the Wars of the Roses in England, concludes its first performance to thunderous applause. It’s not until players take their bows that the worst kind of disaster strikes . . . Flawless basso Albert Reuter is found lurched over a bloody body in his dressing room, seemingly taking inspiration from his role as the murderous Richard III. With a disturbing homicide case stealing the spotlight, Ella can’t be so certain Albert is the one who belongs behind bars . . . Now, Ella must think on her feet while sorting out a wild series of puzzling mishaps and interlocking mysteries. Yet even when sided with her aristocratic beau, does this scrappy diva have the chops to upstage the true criminal, or will this be the last time she headlines a Broadway marquee?

During the first winter of the twentieth century, Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane refuses to dim the lights on her dazzling show business career for marriage—even to a dashing British duke. But the versatile mezzo-soprano may have to put it all on the line once murder takes centerstage . . . New York City, 1900. Renowned opera singer and theatre company owner Ella may have both much to gain and much to lose by getting engaged to her courtly long-distance love, Gil Saint Auburn. But there’s little time for romance or resolutions with Gil’s aristocratic mother and aunts visiting Greenwich Village—especially when the ladies discover a dead man in the bathtub of their hotel suite. The victim’s disturbing background and subsequent demise at the elegant Waverly Place Hotel leave the group puzzled beyond the obvious certainty of an unnatural death. Adding to the confusion and mounting fear, danger explodes through Ella’s close-knit circle after a friend makes a stunning confession and Gil becomes a fresh target for violence. Now, with a London tour run fast approaching, prenuptial worries weighing heavily on her heart, and an intricate Joan of Arc aria to rehearse, can Ella decide what she’s willing to sacrifice before confronting a relentless criminal bent on watching her entire life go up in smoke?

It is no longer possible for any ship to cross the Pacific Ocean without encountering the ghost of Captain without encountering the ghost of Captain Cook and his voyages are the stuff of maritime legend.

After D-Day in 1944 British troops in Normandy had been encouraged to believe that the war would be over by Christmas of that year. The German army in Normandy had indeed been destroyed but by Christmas the Allies were still fighting through Holland, whilst the Germans had reorganised and were ready to fight back. Ken Tout, using his own experiences and interviews with many veterans, explores how the last gasps of the German Army actually saw some of the fiercest and most fanatical fighting of the whole war. Including the major offensives of the Battle of the Bulge and Crossing the Rhine. This last year of war is filled with stories from the tragedy of whole groups of men being frozen to death in battle areas to the triumph of logistics, ingenuity and bravery. Fighting continued up to VE Day in May and some units were in action for days longer as confusion reigned about the enemy surrender. Even after the fighting had finished, the war was not over for these men who had to round up and guard German prisoners of war, watch over thousands of displaced people and play 'cat and mouse' along the new frontier established between the Soviet army and the Western allies. As our experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan remind us today, war does not necessarily end when a ceasefire is declared.

The Samuels family runs from Nazi Germany to Japanese controlled Shanghai. Without funds or visas Dr. Samuels accepts Japans Captain breaking the family to worlds apart. Itos offer allows his wife and daughter to travel to the U.S. in exchange for the doctors time to treat Emperor Pu Yis drug addict wife in Changchun, China. The bombing of Pearl Harbor changes everything. Esther must now find a life living in Japan with the geisha, Yasuko, in Nagasaki while the doctors name becomes a curse to the Chinese in Northern China. The Samuels family finally unites as the sons of both families, Ky and Ichiro, battle among the swords and knives of Shanghais Yu Yuang gardens. Each of their storys is the novels tale.