Death and the Trumpets of Tuscany

Jones's career in films authenticates her intoxicating story, centered on Emma Shaw, a script supervisor on a medieval epic being filmed in Venice and Siena during the 1950s. Director Karl (``the Snarl'') drives his crew and the traditional ``cast of thousands'' with no letup even after the star, Stella Camay, is murdered. With the help of assistant director Hal Halliwell and his aide Marco, Emma copes as further crises threaten the production. Replacing Stella, ethereally lovely Ariadne Andros joins her handsome young husband Leonidas, a worry to the still-attractive but quite older leading man, a suspect when Leonidas dies accidentally. The killer remains unknown until the last minute of this beautifully written mystery, outstanding for Jones's insider's views on the art of movie-making and the international personalities involved. In addition to the tension of the ingenious plot, the novel is enhanced by Jones's expertly evolved settings: a Venetian canal, the moonlit Torre Mangia in Siena and, above all, the wild Palio , the festival held annually in the Sienese campo since the 14th century. (Oct.)