When renowned opera singer Marta Hendriks sees her dead husband in a Paris street, she fears she’s losing her mind — or did she actually see him?

Marta Hendriks is onstage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York when she learns of her beloved husband’s death in a house fire. Overcome, she collapses and has to be carried off the stage.

Fast-forward two years and countless therapy sessions, and Marta is ready to resume her career. In a stroke of luck, she’s hired at the last moment to sing Violetta for the Paris Opera. She manages to keep her emotions under tight control and triumphs in the opening-night performance. During one of her rare days off, relaxing for the first time since her husband’s accident, something threatens her newfound peace. When Marta is caught in a sudden downpour, she dashes for the shelter of a subway station and spots someone doing the same. It is her husband. Marta fears she’s losing her mind – or did she actually see him? Back home in Toronto, she struggles with her need for the truth at the precipice of madness.

The fact that Rick Blechta has been a musician all his life is clearly evident in his writing. He brings his musician’s viewpoint to the thriller genre in much the same way Dick Francis has used his experiences in the horse-racing world. All four Blechta novels, Knock on Wood (1992), The Lark Ascending (1993) and Shooting Straight in the Dark (2002) and his first RendezVous Crime novel, Cemetery of the Nameless (2005), have all been critically praised for the insider’s knowledge of the music world which he injects into his plots. Equally praised by the critics have been his engaging and memorable characters. Rick began his professional music career at the tender age of fourteen and had eclectic tastes right from the start. He’s accomplished on several instruments, has been a ”Rock Star“, conducted orchestras and even composed a well-received musical. His passion for music led him to emigrate to Canada from the U.S. in 1971 to complete a Bachelor of Music Education at McGill University in Montreal. Immediately after graduation, Blechta formed one of Canada’s finest progressive rock bands, Devotion, which went on to achieve legendary status across the country. A growing family and disillusionment with the music business led him back to the education field in 1977 for a one-year stint. Twenty-three years later he escaped, having taught instrumental music in Toronto schools and at the Royal Conservatory of Music. For the past thirteen years Rick has been very active in Crime Writers of Canada and is currently its president. In 2000 the CWC presented him with the Derrick Murdoch Award in recognition of his contributions to the organization.

Rick Blechta's profile page

• Commended, Dewey Divas and the Dudes

What if you lost a beloved husband under terrible circumstances, say a fire in your home. You were not there; you were performing in New York at the Metropolitan Opera. If you had been at home, you might have saved him. But you were not there. That's the beginning of this terrific novel from Toronto's Rick Blechta.

The Globe and Mail

Blechta combines the skills of a cozy writer – sharp characters, good food, lots of scenic travel – with the skills of a suspense writer. It's a nice mix. Marta is a terrific and well realized character – I recommend making her acquaintance.

Auntagathas.com

. . . what’s best about The Fallen One is Blechta's informed grasp of the opera milieu. Any reader who begins the book not knowing much about an entertainment in which fat ladies sing will finish it with enough knowledge to qualify as a commentator on Saturday-afternoon broadcasts from the Met.

Toronto Star

The suspense will keep readers turning the pages until the dramatic conclusion.

Publisher's Weekly

What elevates The Fallen One from competent by-the-numbers suspense is Blechta's clear enthusiasm for the operatic world, as seen through the eyes of a woman struggling to regain her place in it.

The National Post

Blechta is a master storyteller who writes with a musical touch . . . [He] writes entertaining, well-researched stories with dialogue and setting as highlights. In The Fallen One, Blechta has kicked it up a notch.

Hamilton Spectator