Family ConcernsAn Eccentric in Lucca: Book 3

The Chamber Opera Group of Lucca (COGOL) is back for more music and misadventure, once again led by the eccentric Contessa, who is equally plagued by nostalgia and the irksome behaviour of her vindictive dog and irascible housekeeper.
COGOL's latest concert is a joint project with Arthur Crowe's La Banda Inghiltalia. This is the first joint venture between these two highly respected groups of musicians and everyone is excited at the prospect. None moreso than the Contesssa herself, who is caught on the horns of a mild dilema: Mr Crowe is very attractive, but the memory of her long-dead husband seems to be something of a hindrance.
The fine sounds produced by her talented group of singing angels still engenders great joy in her heart - i miei angeli di canto sono mia familiga, as the Contessa is fond of saying in her fluent, but slightly quixotic Italian.
However, the private lives of the Contessa's "angels" leave much to be desired and are nowhere near as angelic as their vocal harmonies. Even the beautiful landscape of Renaissance Lucca can neither soothe nor tame them. Jealousy festers between the two principal sopranos; one of the tenors is a roue of the first order with a less than honest accountancy practice; the other tenor hides a dark secret that his wife might one day recover enough to remember. The bass is concerned with his wife's late in life pregnancy; the mezzo-soprano gives a new meaning to Bloody Mary in the South Pacific extracts and the antiques dealer is still fearful of a visit from Inspector Conti, diligently on the trail of any clues as to the identity of the mysterious murderer.
As if this isn't enough, a disasterous new business venture in Lucca occupies the Contessa's altruistic attention, after she unwittingly becomes involved in the family concerns of others - something that she has much experience with.