A Minor Deception by Nupur Tustin (Christmas Gift Idea)

A perfect holiday gift for the women on your list (or get it for yourself.)



The holidays—Christmas and Thanksgiving—are usually a stressful time for me.  I imagine they must be for every woman. There's so much cooking to be done, and it all has to be perfect. And it all has a hard deadline. My mother-in-law and I try to get dinner on the table by 6:30 pm, latest.

What every woman needs at this time is a diverting and entertaining mystery.  While you're waiting for the oven to pre-heat or the pumpkin pie or turkey to cook,  you can put your feet up, relax with a nice cup of coffee or tea, and read a few pages of A Minor Deception, the first in the Joseph Haydn series.

I can promise you, it will be diverting. If you've enjoyed Kate Kingsbury's delightful Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries or Emily Brightwell's Mrs. Jeffries series or even Amanda Carmack's riveting Elizabethan Mysteries, then A Minor Deception is  just the right book for you or a friend or someone in your family.

Although, the protagonist, Joseph Haydn, is male, for some reason, women seem to really enjoy the mystery. The book is set in early December, 1766. Haydn isn't celebrating Christmas, but like you and me, he's run off his feet, preparing for a visit from the Empress Maria Theresa.

Quite a bit of music has to be written and perfected. And it really doesn't help that his principal violinist argues with him at every point, making rehearsals as stressful as getting the turkey just right. Then to make matters worse, the man disappears! The fallout from the incident is, unfortunately, far from minor.

The book also has a strong downstairs dynamic. Palace maids Rosalie and Greta help Haydn solve the mystery. And you'll frequently see them in the kitchen.

Haydn's wife, Maria Anna, can be . . . well, a bit of a shrew. But I think even you can sympathize with her annoyed outburst: "Making me slave all morning over a breakfast he won't eat," when Haydn tells her, at the very last minute, that he'll breakfast at his place of employment, the Esterházy Palace.

We all need a good mystery enlivened by a generous helping of history and a lively dash of humor at this time of the year. I think A Minor Deception will provide all of those for you or a special woman in your life.

Available in print and Ebook formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks.

Author Web site and Bio

A former journalist, Nupur Tustin relies upon a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate fictional mayhem. Childhood piano lessons and a 1903 Weber Upright share equal blame for her musical works.

Haydn Series: http://ntustin.com

Retail Links and Goodreads Giveaway

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Comments

Nupur Tustin said…
Thanks for hosting me on your blog, Meredith. My original comment, I'm afraid, went to another post!

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