Melody for Murder

When recently-widowed college choir director Bertie Bigelow reluctantly accepts a New Year's date with Judge Theophilous Green, she never imagines the esteemed civil rights pioneer and inveterate snob will be found shot to death the next morning. She's even more surprised when her talented but troubled student LaShawn Thomas is arrested for the crime.

But Bertie suspects that someone in her tight-knit social circle is really the killer.

Is it hot-tempered Patrice Soule, the voluptuous diva and recent winner of the Illinois Idol contest? Is it Charley Howard, the BBQ Hot Sauce King, a self-made millionaire with Mafia connections? Is it the mysterious Dr. Momolu Taylor? Newly arrived from Africa, he's invented a hot new sex drug that's got some powerful politicians feeling frisky. Or could it be Alderman "Steady Freddy" Clark, corrupt South Side ward boss and would-be patron of the arts?

One thing is certain: Bertie Bigelow will need to keep her wits about her to avoid becoming the killer's next victim.