Joseph Zellnik's Broadway Mystery Novel THE SOUND OF MURDER Now Available

The Sound of Murder, a new musical theater-themed mystery novel from composer Joseph Zellnik, is now available in paperback and eBook on major online book retailers. The book is first in a new series, “Musicals Are Murder,” combining fictional crimes and real theatre history.

A mix of fact and fiction, The Sound of Murder is set during the 1959 out-of-town tryout for The Sound of Music and features theatre legends like Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Mary Martin as characters. It offers readers all the fun of a traditional murder mystery plus an accurate look at the creation of an iconic musical all in one.

The book begins on the night of the world premiere of The Sound of Music in New Haven and ends on the opening night on Broadway. When the star’s understudy is found dead in a hotel room under graffiti reading, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”, assistant stage manager Lee Solomon – cast in the role of company sleuth – must try to uncover the killer before anyone else dies. 

The book represents the culmination of a longtime dream for author Zellnik, who has previously co-written a couple of non-Broadway historical mysteries. His research for The Sound of Murder included reading numerous theatre histories and biographies/autobiographies of the key players, as well as conducting personal interviews with older members of the Broadway community who still remember the late 1950s. He was also able to draw on his own professional experiences to add verisimilitude to life behind the scenes at a musical.

Musicals Are Murder is the only mystery series that uses Broadway’s Golden Age as its setting. Each book will feature a made-up crime set against real musical theatre history, and focus on a different classic show (Zellnik is currently writing book #2, centered on the original 1964 “Fiddler on the Roof”). Everything not related to the murder plot is grounded in fact. Author Zellnik states, “It was important to me that the backstage aspects of the story be as true to reality as fiction allows.”

As of April 3, The Sound of Murder is available on Amazon, Apple Books, and BarnesAndNoble.com. The eBook retails for $9.99, the paperback for $19.99. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joseph Zellnik is a theatrical composer best known for the off-Broadway hit “Yank!” in 2010 (book and lyrics by David Zellnik), which received 7 Drama Desk nominations (including nods for score and Best Musical) and Best Musical nominations from the Outer Critics' Circle and Lucille Lortel Foundation; the show has gone on to productions in numerous cities around the US, as well as in London, Manchester, Brisbane, and Rio de Janeiro, where it won the 2017 CENYM Award for Best Musical. 

In the literary sphere, Joseph’s other credits include co-authoring the upcoming “Periodic Table of Broadway Musicals” with husband 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.