I hardly ever give half-star ratings, but if I gave the first book in the trilogy 4 stars, and the second book 5 stars, then this one deserves 4.5 stars, because I would rate it right between them. After our detour in What's Bred in the Bone to get the life story of Francis Cornish, we're right back in the world of The Rebel Angels, not too terribly long after that book ended. Simon Darcourt, who was something of a minor character in that book, is the point of view character here. We do see Maria, but only through Simon's eyes this time. (And I suppose it had to be that way, since we would get spoilers much too soon if we knew what was going on from Maria's point of view.) 

The plot centers around the Cornish Foundation's attempt to commission and stage the completion of an opera begun by Hoffmann before he died in 1822, and some memorable new characters are introduced because of their involvement with the opera. I think it's remarkable that in order to write this book, Davies basically had to come up with an entire opera. Sometimes I wished I could hear the music, but the descriptions of the staging are so clear that I could see it all taking place in my head. Davies is truly a marvel.