Shadow Music
What's It About?
Mario’s novel weaves together music, art, history, romance and crime, sure to appeal to a wide swath of readers.Helaine Mario’s latest suspense novel, Shadow Music (Oceanview), begins in 1985 at the border between Austria and Hungary with two women on the run: aspiring nun Donata and her best friend Tereza, both raised behind the iron curtain and seeking freedom abroad. Tereza clutches her baby daughter and her father’s two greatest treasures, his beloved violin and a painted canvas. But Tereza is being hunted by the dangerous father of her newborn child, and just as the women are about to cross the border, gunshots ring out. With her dying breath, Tereza entrusts her infant daughter to Donata, hoping her friend can protect the little girl from the father she is fleeing.
Timeline shift to present-day Boston: Renowned classical pianist Maggie O’Shea is finally back on stage performing after the shocking death of her husband Johnny and a year of difficult mourning. Maggie has just begun to rebuild her life. She has even fallen in love again, with the courageous Colonel Michael Beckett. Little does she know it, but she is about to be drawn into a deadly mystery that has been slowly brewing since the Second World War.
AN INTRICATE AND SURPRISING CRESCENDO OF INTRIGUE
After her performance, Maggie is pursued by a fan, Yuri Belankov, who claims to have known her late husband Johnny, but whose intentions may not be so pure. Meanwhile, Maggie’s new lover Michael is asked to investigate the murder of a young woman entangled with the Russian mob and to track down her missing son, currently on the run in New York and a potential target himself.
Gradually, the disparate mysteries surrounding Maggie — Yuri’s sudden interest in her, Johnny’s untimely death, the Russian mafia searching for the missing boy, and the tragedy of Donata and Tereza’s escape — all come together like the instruments of an orchestra to produce an intricate, surprising, inspiring symphony.
THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF A MUSIC-THEMED SERIES
Shadow Music is the third book in the Maggie O’Shea Classical Music Series, and fans will delight in Maggie’s return (though newcomers can also enjoy this suspenseful tale on its own). As Michael says, “trouble has a way of finding Maggie,” and as she gets pulled deeper into a world of secrets and threats, the musician proves remarkably adept at fending for herself. It’s easy to root for such a brave, curious and passionate protagonist. Both Maggie and Michael are haunted by their pasts and by the people they have lost, but together, they just might be able to solve the mysteries confronting them now — and save their own lives in the process.
Mario’s novel weaves together music, art, history, romance and crime, sure to appeal to a wide swath of readers. In addition to being an author, Mario has also served on the boards of several nonprofits, and the net proceeds from Shadow Music will be donated to a variety of organizations benefiting women, children and families.
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