READ: Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer by Wesley Stace

In 1923, on the evening of the dress rehearsal of his new opera, composer Charles Jessold murders his wife and her lover. He then commits suicide in a manner that eerily mirrors his opera’s plot, leaving behind a 2-month-old son. This heinous act is also reminiscent of the story of 16th century nobleman and composer, Carlo Gesualdo. As the scandal fills the newspapers and gossip columns, Jessold’s reputation is ruined, his music buried and forgotten.

Twenty-two years later, music critic Leslie Shepard is commissioned by the composer’s son to write a biography that will restore Jessold’s reputation. Shepard was a friend and the librettist for the opera based on the English folk song, Little Musgrave. The story he writes is not the story everyone expects.

Author Wesley Stace, also known as singer/songwriter John Wesley Harding, has written a murder mystery, a love story, and a history of 20th century English opera. In elegant prose, with a plot that let’s more and more of the story develop by returning to previous events and expanding on them, Stace creates tension and suspense. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new revelation comes to light. Nothing is as it seems, but it’s only off by a little. Readers will never figure out what really happened that fateful night, and it will come as a shock. But it's great fun and not to be missed.