Maskerade # (UK)

The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork, a huge, rambling building, where masked figures and hooded shadows do wicked deeds in the wings...where dying the death on stage is a little bit more than just a metaphor...where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by an evil mastermind in a hideously deformed evening dress...Where there's a couple of old ladies in pointy hats eating peanuts in the gods and looking up at the big chandelier and saying things like: "There's an accident waiting to happen if I ever saw one." Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Discworld's greatest witches, are back for an innocent night out at the opera. So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening's entertainment with murders you can really hum...) The story begins with Agnes Nitt leaving Lancre to seek a career at the Opera House in Ankh-Morpork. When Granny Weatherwax realizes Nanny Ogg has written an immensely popular cookbook but has not been paid by the publisher, the witches also leave for Ankh-Morpork to collect the money, as well as to attempt to recruit Agnes into their coven, to replace Magrat Garlick who left the coven when she became Queen of Lancre (in Lords and Ladies). This has the side benefit of distracting Granny from becoming obsessive and self-centered, or so Nanny believes to her great relief. Agnes Nitt is chosen as a member of the chorus, where she meets Christine, a more popular but less talented girl. The Opera House Ghost, who has long haunted the opera house without much incident, begins to commit seemingly random murders staged as "accidents", and also requests that Christine be given lead roles in several upcoming productions. Due to her incredibly powerful and versatile voice, Agnes is asked to sing the parts from the background, unbeknownst to Christine or the audience. Having discovered the problems at the opera house and also having coerced the publisher to pay Nanny richly for her book, the witches investigate the mystery, with Granny posing as a rich patron, and Nanny insinuating herself into the opera house staff. Agnes unmasks Walter Plinge, the janitor, as the ghost, though as he is seemingly harmless, the others are unconvinced. Another employee is suspected, but turns out to be a member of the Cable Street Particulars. The witches determine that the finances of the Opera House, which are a complete mess, have been made so intentionally in order to hide the fact that money is being stolen, with the murders being used either as a distraction or to cover evidence. It is finally revealed that two people had been masquerading as the ghost. The original (and harmless) ghost, Walter Plinge, was being psychologically manipulated by the second ghost, who assumed the identity to commit the murders and theft. With the witches' help, Walter is able to overcome his fears and help defeat the murderer. - Wikipedia. 'There's a kind of magic in masks. Masks conceal one face, but they reveal another. The one that only comes out in darkness . . .' The Opera House in Ankh-Morpork is home to music, theatrics and a harmless masked Ghost who lurks behind the scenes. But now a set of mysterious backstage murders may just stop the show. Agnes Nitt has left her rural home of Lancre in the hopes of launching a successful singing career in the big city. The only problem is, she doesn't quite look the part. And there are two witches who would much rather she return home to join their coven. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have travelled to Ankh-Morpork to convince Agnes that life as a witch is much better than one on the stage. Only now they're caught up in a murder mystery featuring masks and maniacal laughter. And the show MUST go on . . . 'A master storyteller' A. S. Byatt 'Funny, delightfully inventive, and refuses to lie down in its genre' Observer Maskerade is the fifth book in the Witches series , but you can read the Discworld novels in any order. 'i Thought: Opera, How Hard Can It Be? Songs. Pretty Girls Dancing. Nice Scenery. Lots Of People Handing Over Cash. Got To Be Better Than The Cut-throat World Of Yoghurt, I Thought. Now Everwhere I Go There's...' Death, To Be Precise. And Plenty Of It. In Unpleasant Variations. This Isn't Real Life – It’s Worse. This Is The Opera House, Ankh-morpork...a Huge, Rambling Building, Where Innocent Young Sopranos Are Lured To Their Destiny By A Strangely-familiar Evil Mastermind In A Mask And Evening Dress, With A Penchant For Lurking In Shadows, Occasional Murder, And Sending Little Notes Full Of Maniacal Laughter And Exclamation Marks. Opera Can Do That To A Man. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld's Most Famous Witch, Is In The Audience. And She Doesn't Hold With That Sort Of Thing. So There's Going To Be Trouble (but Nevertheless A Good Evenin's Entertainment With Murders You Can Really Hum...). And The Show Must Go On. "Death, to be precise. And plenty of it. In unpleasant variations. This isn't real life. This isn't even cheesemongerinig. It's opera. Where the music matters and where an opera house is being terrorised by a man in evening dress with a white mask, lurking in the shadows, occasionally killing people, and most worryingly, sending little notes, writing maniacal laughter with five exclamation marks. Opera can do that to a man. In such circumstances, life has obviously reached that desperate point where the wrong thing to do has to be the right thing to do ..."--Back cover 'I thought: opera, how hard can it be? Where the music matters and where an opera house is being terrorised by a man in evening dress with a white mask, lurking in the shadows, occasionally killing people, and most worryingly, sending little notes, writing maniacal laughter with five exclamation marks. Opera can do that to a man. 'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy . .' Sunday TimesThe Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . This isn't real life - it's worse. The show must go on, as murder, mayhem and music run riot in the night The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork...A huge, rambling building, where masked figures and hooded shadows do wicked deeds in the wings...Where dying the death on stage is a little bit more than a metaphor