Murder and love--from the halls of Viennas imperial family to a perilous gypsy campAmid the glamour of Prince Nicholas Esterhazys court in 18th-century Vienna, murder is afoot. Or so fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria is convinced when her musician father turns up dead on Christmas Eve, his valuable violin missing, and the only clue to his death a strange gold pendant around his neck. Then her fathers mentor, the acclaimed composer Franz Joseph Haydn, helps her through a difficult time by making her his copyist and giving her insight in to her fathers secret life. Its there that Theresa begins to uncover a trail of blackmail and extortion, even as she discovers honor--and the possibility of a first, tentative love. Thrumming with the weeping strains of violins, as well as danger and deception, this is an engrossing tale of murder, romance, and music that readers will find hard to forget.
