Pitch Raise – Paperback

A ruthless music critic. A deadly encounter. And a killer with a seemingly perfect alibi.

Every July, the historic English town of Breckensford comes alive with music. World-class pianists, candlelit concerts, and magnificent performances fill the cathedral and a medieval tithe barn where the summer heat makes keeping a piano in tune almost impossible.

For blind piano tuner Octavia Bird, it’s the busiest-and most nerve-racking-ten days of the year.

As the festival’s official technician, she’s responsible for six instruments across five venues. With demanding performers, impossible schedules, and reputations at stake, Octavia already has enough to worry about.

Then Britain’s most feared music critic arrives.

Lydia Castellane has destroyed careers with a few carefully chosen words. Sharp-tongued, ruthless, and impossible to please, she’s determined to find fault with everything from the celebrated pianists to the instruments they’re playing.

But before the festival’s first weekend is over, Lydia is found murdered in the Tithe Barn’s upstairs green room.

And Octavia may be the only witness.

During the recital interval, she was on the stairs below when someone climbed to the loft and returned. She remembers the footsteps perfectly-but identifying the person responsible is another matter entirely.

The suspects are plentiful. A furious star pianist publicly humiliated by Lydia. A rival piano tuner whose abandoned tools raise awkward questions. A quiet assistant guarding dangerous secrets. And a festival director whose injured leg should make him incapable of climbing the stairs.

As the police investigate, Octavia finds herself caught in a tangle of professional jealousies, bitter rivalries, and carefully constructed alibis.

With her faithful guide dog Crotchet beside her, she must unravel the events of that fatal interval before the festival-and another reputation-are ruined.

Because the crucial clue isn’t who climbed the stairs. It’s what they were carrying.

Pitch Raise is an atmospheric, cleverly plotted British cozy mystery featuring a resourceful blind piano tuner, her loyal guide dog, eccentric musicians, backstage intrigue, and an ingenious murder puzzle set against the charm of an English summer music festival.

Perfect for readers who love traditional British murder mysteries, intelligent female amateur sleuths, classical music mysteries, and cleverly constructed whodunits.

A clean, standalone cozy mystery with no graphic violence or profanity, a satisfying, fairly clued solution, and plenty of English charm, musical rivalry, gentle humor, and unexpected twists.

At Breckensford’s most prestigious music festival, one wrong move could bring the whole performance crashing down.