Peckover Joins the Choir — Michael Kenyon

Barely recovered from their death-defying adventures in Kill the Butler! (SMP, 1993), Detective Chief Inspector Henry Peckover, Bard of the Yard, and Detective Constable Jason Twitty are sent on undercover duty again. A spate of art thefts across Europe - in France, Switzerland, and Italy - has implicated the Sealeigh Choral Society. For the disappearance of each of the artifacts has coincided with a concert given by the choir. And the Sealeigh Choral Society is about to go on the road again...
But before Peckover and Twitty can pack their bags for a whistle-stop tour of Ghent, Gap, Bra, and Andorra, a demanding schedule of rehearsals must be endured. And while the choir's newest recruits struggle to acquaint themselves with possible suspects - and train voices more used to singing Motown than Mozart - someone in the quiet coastal town of Sealeigh makes careful plans to hide a collection of priceless treasure.
By the time the choir arrives in Ghent for the first concert of the tour, Peckover is still far from solving the case. Anxious to protect his true identity, precious time has been wasted listening patiently to the problems of nervous sopranosnot to mention the anti-Channel Tunnel rantings of Sealeigh's mayor. Peckover has, however, uncovered some tantalizing information about several choir members who are not quite the law-abiding citizens they pretend to be. Then the stakes are upped dramatically when one of their number is found dead in Ghent's magnificent cathedral - and the evidence points incontrovertibly to murder....