A unique new mystery series based on Broadway history!
Available April 3rd!
in Paperback and eBook
Pre-order now! at:
ABOUT THE SERIES
Musicals Are Murder brings something new to the mystery genre, the first series to use Broadway history as a backdrop. Each novel centers on the original production of a classic Golden Age musical and features the legendary real-life figures involved, brought to life with reverence and (as much as it's possible in fiction) accuracy. And while the murder plots are completely fictional, the other elements of each story are true, and based on extensive research – theatre histories, biographies/autobiographies of the key players, and personal interviews.
Alongside the pleasures of a traditional mystery,
offers readers a “fly on the wall” view as the world’s most famous musicals are being born!
As a lifelong musical theatre fan and professional composer, author Joseph Zellnik has spent decades immersing himself in Broadway history and lore, making the series a true labor of love (and a great chance to finally make use of all the random facts rattling around his brain!). He is also able to draw on his own experiences to add verisimilitude to the depiction of creating a successful show. Part of the joy he takes in writing the Musicals Are Murder novels is figuring out how to weave anecdotes and trivia about these iconic shows, and the people who made them, into the murder plots!
At the center of every mystery series is a detective, and the amateur sleuth at the center of the Musicals Are Murder series is assistant stage manager (at least for now!) Lee Solomon. His position gives him unique access to everyone working on the shows that hire him – the actors, the director and choreographer, the writers, the tech crew, etc.
THE SLEUTH: LEE SOLOMON
Stage managers are, famously, the people on any production who know “where the bodies are buried,” and assistant stage managers particularly are jack-of-all-trades... any task that isn’t expressly the responsibility of someone else ends up on their plates. So when a murder occurs, finding the killer becomes just another of Lee’s assignments.
When we meet him in “The Sound of Murder,” Lee is a newcomer to New York, having recently moved to the city from St. Louis, his home town, following a short-lived Broadway show that originated in that city. He finds lodging in Greenwich Village with his childhood best friend, Dennis Levinson; their status as the only Jewish boys at their school bonded them for life, though they are very different as grown men. Lee is a straight stage manager, somewhat circumspect, while Denny is gay and an inveterate gossip, whose job at the office of producer David Merrick gives him insight into the seamy underbelly of the theatre industry. Dennis’s insights invariably prove useful to Lee in his various investigations.
BOOKS
Pre-order now, at:
Soon after The Sound of Music’s first performance out of town, star Mary Martin’s understudy dies in a bizarrely-appointed hotel room, beneath a wall defaced with a bloody inscription: How do you solve a problem like Maria? Can assistant stage manager Lee Solomon, cast in the role of company sleuth, uncover the culprit or culprits by the time the show opens on Broadway?
#1
Featured Production: The Sound of Music
Year: 1959
Key Historical Figures in the book:
#2 Coming in 2026!
Featured Production: Fiddler on the Roof
Year: 1964
PRAISE FOR
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I absolutely devoured The Sound of Murder, from start to finish. What a captivating, glorious book, bursting with theatrical authenticity! If you've ever craved a time machine to visit another era of Broadway, look no further! Joseph Zellnik has crafted a tale so deeply embedded in theatre history readers will wonder which details are fiction. It's populated with characters that I couldn't get enough of...not only was I dying to know whodunnit, I was dying to know what each character would do next. I didn't want The Sound of Murder to end!
JENNIFER ASHLEY TEPPER, author of Women Writing Musicals and 4 volumes of The Untold Stories of Broadway
It’s a bold choice to create a murder mystery fantasy around the facts of an out-of-town tryout of a much loved musical – and one whose movie version remains the most popular musical film of all time. Bravo!
TED CHAPIN, former President of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, and author of Everything Was Possible:
The Birth of the Musical Follies
Stuffed with backstage intrigue, a killer cast, and a clever mystery, The Sound of Murder will be on every musical lover’s list of favorite things — right alongside those raindrops on roses. With style and wit to spare, Zellnik weaves together his obvious love for theatre history and Christie-style puzzlers into one singular sensation (wrong musical, but you get the idea). An absolute delight!
Even if you’re in sub-zero temperatures, you’ll take off your warm woolen mittens so you can keep turning the pages. The book is so addictive that if you’re at a stoplight, you’ll reach for it to get in two or three terrific sentences. Zellnik’s novel concerns The Sound of Music, and the author manages to make everyone in the cast and crew look guilty, even sweet Mary Martin. More amazingly, Zellnik is historically accurate down to the euphemism that Martin used in place of a profanity. If God is in the details, then Joseph Zellnik is arguably divine.
THOMAS MIZER, Emmy-Award nominated songwriter for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
PETER FILICHIA,
Broadway Radio
How do you solve a problem like Maria? Joseph Zellnik – composer of the highly-regarded musical Yank!, now turned crime novelist – does so not with neatly-rhymed verses but with poison, daggers and backstage intrigue. Fictional intrigue, yes, but set against the very real 1959 pre-Broadway tryout of The Sound of Music. A delightful romp for Broadway musical fans, especially if crisp bloody murder plots tied up with strings are among your favorite things!
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STEVEN SUSKIN, author of The Sound of Broadway Music and Offstage Observations
AUTHOR
Beyond the literary sphere, Joseph is a Drama Desk-nominated theatrical composer, best known for the off-Broadway hit Yank!, which has had successful productions in New York, London, Manchester, Brisbane and Rio de Janeiro (Winner 2017 CENYM Award for Best Musical) as well as numerous cities around the US.
In addition to the Musicals Are Murder novels, Joseph is co-author of the upcoming Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals with Andrew Gerle (Union Square & Co., fall 2025). He also co-writes the Libby Seale series of historical mysteries set in Portland, OR in the 1890s.
CONTACT
I love to hear from readers! Message me at JosephZellnik@gmail.com
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