Many thanks to NetGalley for this ebook ARC! 3.5 stars!

This is a really interesting murder mystery read. We follow Kit, who works for a small Opera in NYC called Brio. When rehearsals start for a new opera that she has recently moved into playing the lead for, Kit immediately starts noticing how weird it is that her cover (opera speak for understudy), Yolanda, is at the rehearsal. From the first day they meet, Kit and Yolanda have a tumultuous relationship. It's pretty clear that Yolanda is trying to get in Kit's way of successfully making it to the opening night of the opera. Along the way, many disturbing things happen....but ultimately it's someone unexpected who ends up dead. From there, Kit engages with the mystery of trying to figure out who the murderer is and what the heck is going on, putting herself in many dangerous situations along the way.

Overall I really enjoyed this. While it wasn't the most realistic thing ever, I thought the plot and concept were interesting. Everything also ended up making sense in the end, which you don't always have an author do successfully in a mystery or thriller, so I really appreciated that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon and Vintage for this advance reader’s copy, in exchange for an honest review. “The Understudy” has an expected publication date of August 5, 2025.
And check out all my reviews at my Raised on Reading (www.raisedonreading.com) book blog.
I have mixed feelings about Morgan Richter’s soon-to-be-released novel “The Understudy,” mostly because I finished the book and was confused over what I had just read. What I thought – from both the title and the opening chapters – would be story about a rivalry between an opera star and her understudy, quickly devolved into one of fraud, obsession, jealousy, and unrealistic scenarios.
Kit Margolis, stage name Katerina, has just landed her first lead role in the new opera Barbarella. Why anyone would even consider making an opera based on the 1968 cult movie of the same name is beyond me, but that’s neither here nor there. Kit has a magnificent voice, but her stage presence and lack of emotional connection with the audience have the director, Daniel, eyeing her understudy, Yolanda – who has never performed in an opera before – as a replacement.
This, of course, leads to immediate friction between Kit and Yolanda, fueled by the latter’s supposedly innocent prank of lacing Kit’s tea with tetrahydrozoline (eye drops), which land her in the hospital. Yolanda even cops to the nasty deed. Despite this admittance, and subsequent ‘innocent pranks,’ Kit somehow finds herself developing a friendship with Yolanda.
And if that’s not unrealistic enough, Kit immediately becomes a super sleuth when a crime is committed, somehow believing she can solve the mystery faster and better than the police – despite repeatedly placing herself in harm’s way. Someone fighting for her operatic life just wouldn’t go there.
I also found the characters, including Kit, difficult to like. None of them have any redeeming qualities, so there’s really no incentive to root for anyone. Had the narrative retained its initial focus on the rivalry between Kit and Yolanda, that might have been more interesting. But too many plot deviations hindered the story’s flow.
I’m not a huge fan of opera, stemming mostly from my lack of understanding of the genre. So, from that perspective, I appreciated Richter’s detailed explanations of how an opera comes together, without getting overly technical. I may still never go to an opera, but at least I have a better understanding.
I’m not totally down on “The Understudy,” I just feel it lost its way from what it could have been. Three out of five stars, and perhaps that’s being a tad generous.

Many books start out well and then tank out mid way through. This is just the opposite. If I hadn't been asked to review this I would have DNF'd it. Thankfully I stuck with it because I had to and just past the midway point it really picks up and becomes an excellent read.

Kit has worked hard to get to the top of the ultra-competitive world of opera in New York City. She has finally landed the main role in an opera dealing with pop culture classic, Barbarella. But Barbarella is voluptuous and Kit is not. But with enough padding and makeup, who knows? She's confident in the role, until she meets her understudy. Yolanda is raw and untrained, but she is beautiful. And has the sexy looks that Kit lacks. But the biggest problem is that Yolanda will do anything, and I mean anything, to get the principle role.

After a rocky start, though, Kit and Yolanda have seemed to form a decent working relationship. In fact, it borders on friendship. But then Yolanda is found dead. Kit feels obligated to dig into Yolanda's checkered past to figure out what happened. But she turns up more than she bargained for.

I found this to be a captivating book. It offers a rare glimpse into the world of the New York opera scene. Characters are well-developed and relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for the ARC. The blurb sounded super interesting but the execution was a let down. The plot dragged and the characters were more flat than interesting.

Morgan Richter's The Understudy delves into the cutthroat world of New York City's opera scene, weaving a tale of ambition, rivalry, and intrigue. The story centers on Kit Margolis, an opera singer who, after years of dedication, secures the lead role in a new production based on the 1960s cult classic film Barbarella. Her ascent, however, is threatened by her understudy, Yolanda, whose allure and ambition cast a shadow over Kit's hard-earned success.

Richter masterfully captures the nuances of the opera world, from the intense rehearsals to the backstage politics that often remain hidden from the public eye. The tension between Kit and Yolanda escalates when a murder disrupts the production, forcing Kit to confront not only the external challenges posed by her understudy but also her own insecurities and past traumas.

The setting is extremely interesting, providing readers with an often unseen view of opera and immersing them into a high stakes environment. Despite this interesting setting, the emotional depth of the characters often did not go beyond rivalry and the mystery concludes a bit too quickly for my taste.

However, The Understudy remains a compelling read, especially for those intrigued by the performing arts. Richter's portrayal of the opera world, combined with the suspense of a murder mystery, offers a unique narrative that keeps readers invested until the final curtain call.

I'll give it more of a hard 3.75. It's very detail oriented and that its fault in some cases. However, the overall plot and twists were really fun to read and encounter. It doesn't hook you that quickly, but it's for sure a page turner that you keep wanting to read the next chapter. Overall, a solid mystery read.

This one was ok. I enjoyed the first part of this book way more. I enjoyed Kit and Yolanda being enemies. But the second half felt super dragged out. IT picked up again towards the end, but this just wasn't for me.

Truth be told, heading into this I had reservations that a story involving players in an opera would be a bit boring but I was happy to find this assumption to be very wrong. The opera at the heart of the story is Barbarella (yes, it is based on the campy movie of the same name) so that made it much more relatable to this no-nothing-about-opera-thus-intimidated-by-it reader.

The story follow Kit, the lead of the opera, and as the title indicates, the troubles she encounters with her understudy. No spoilers, but will say this was a pretty intriguing murder mystery and once I started reading, I didn't stop until the end because I needed to know all the answers. I was deep into the book before I put the pieces together and while I usually like to be surprised, I was still very satisfied even though I solved the mystery before the reveal.

Disclosure: Received an uncorrected ARC of this book from NetGalley and Alfred A. Knopf/Penguin Random House LLC (Thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.

Kit has finally fulfilled her dream of being an opera singer in the leading role. She is overwhelmed and overjoyed that her talent had finally been discovered. But her insecurities begin to arise when she meets her understudy. A lady with a plan to take Kit's role and makes it very well known. Soon Kit finds that she is not only struggling to save her role but also her life.
A good mystery based around the world of opera and the dedication of those who perform. The plot line starts out with the threats to Kit's life and with a sudden twist takes the reader into another story. Some parts were a little slow and dragged for me, but the ending was a good climax.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for a chance to read an advanced copy of this book.

I read about half of this book and couldn't plod onward to finish. The writing was pretty elementary, but perhaps that's because I am an opera singer and was not impressed by the minimal amount of research the author did. I have highlighted sections in the portion I read and I will share the inconsistencies/errors I found while attempting to read this book below.

Location 95 in the galley 1 Giddy Uncertainty: "As understudies rarely get a chance to perform, requiring them to show up to early rehearsals serves no useful purpose and bloats the budget"
What I consider the fundamental issue with this book is the fact that the whole story is based off of an "understudy" (including the title). That term is used in theatre and musical theatre, not opera. In opera understudies are called covers, and they absolutely attend every rehearsal. Morgan portrayed "understudies" as people who slide in only when needed who are not paid to attend any rehearsals ahead of time, which is fundamentally incorrect. If the covers don't attend the rehearsal process, they don't know the role and cannot step in to perform it. Occasionally, a person may fall ill in a production which necessitates an emergency cover to be flown in from somewhere else, but that person would be a professional artist who had already performed the role elsewhere, most likely multiple times. It made it hard to continue to read the book knowing that this is the theme of the book and it was not researched at all by the author.

Location 171 in 1. Giddy Uncertainty "to hit every note clearly"
"Hitting" notes is a term we do not use in the classical world as having sound vocal technique involves a lot more than "hitting the note", which is a colloquialism from popular culture. Again- a basic lack of research which could have been alleviated by having an advisor or reading group composed of opera professionals.

Location 118 in 1. Giddy Uncertainty "[Carlo was] sidestepping the expected path of playing Don Jose as a lovesick fool in favor of excavating the character's cruel and manipulative undertones" Again- I feel the author has never seen Carmen or any other opera. This statement is just so wrong it's hard to unpack it quickly- Don Jose in Carmen in a womanizer, abuser, and sweet talker who is NEVER played as anything but the heel. When I read this passage I threw my Kindle because it was so offensively incorrect. All Morgan needed to do was really read the Wiki synopsis of Carmen to get this right and she didn't take the time to. Sloppy.

Location 213 in 1 Giddy Uncertainty "Worse, she slid up and down between her notes on the trill instead of hitting each one dead on. Sliding around is fine, even encouraged, for many styles of singing- pop music careers have been built on well-deployed vocal scoops- but unless an artist really knows what she's doing, it's considered a bad move in opera."
A lot to unpack here:
1. It's legitimately not possible to slide to notes in a trill- a vocal trill is done by singing two notes which are either a half step or whole step apart. This means the notes are neighbors with nearly no space between them for a slide. I could go on theoretically about how wrong this explanation is but I think I've made my point on this.
2. "Sliding" in opera is called performing a porta mento. It is used for emotional affect or because of a direction in the score by the composer specifically wanting it for a passage. It was very popular during the bel canto period, which is the "golden age" of opera. So yes- opera singers do slide between notes purposefully quite often.

Location 639 4. Peace Offerings "Sugar causes mucus to collect on the vocal cords, so I preferred to avoid sweets while preparing for a production"
1. Vocal cords is not the correct term if you're talking about the opera world, which is anatomically informed and specific. The word we would use is "vocal folds".
2. Although this is technically true, this statement reeks of Googling for information. In my 12+ years as a professional in the opera world, I have never heard anyone say they avoid sugar because of this. What singers do avoid often which has a much more instantaneous effect on the folds is lactose/dairy.

I'd be glad to discuss this via email because if you all want to publish this and have it be respectable, there's a lot of revising that needs to happen,.

Wow, what a story. I have never thought much about the back biting in the opera theater. But I guess every business has some personnel issues. In this book the understudy takes nasty to a whole new level. She is not likable in any way. But men thinks she is eye candy. The opera is a new one and the director what's to give up the singing ability to get some sex appeal. The whole story is a page turner. Why did the opera singer decide to look for answers? Made for interesting reading.

Having enjoyed The Divide, I was looking forward to reading Morgan Richter's new book. I'm pleased to say that The Understudy is just as good, maybe even better! The first half was excellent and almost impossible to put down. The second half was still good, but Kit made so many stupid decisions I couldn't relate to, that it was a little annoying at times. Also, what she was investigating wasn't her business and I couldn't understand why she cared so much. The plot was interesting though and there were some twists I never saw coming. I don't know that I've ever read a book set in the world of opera before, but it works really well and is a great setting for a murder mystery. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a light, fun, fast-paced mystery. 4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
This absorbing book about the competitive NYC opera world features Kit, who has the lead in an upcoming opera and her understudy, Yolanda. The stunning and competitive Yolanda becomes a huge thorn in Kit's eye, dangerously so.
I liked Kit, who is devoted to her craft, but lacks self confidence; she's overwhelmed by Yolanda and even becomes afraid for her life.
It's a good book, but I had to suspend my belief at times, especially towards the end. But it was riveting and definitely worth reading. 4 stars rounded up to4.5.

good pacing of the story. there was constantly something happening but it didn’t feel too outlandish or gimmicky. i was surprised by how quickly the story picked up speed and never really let off the brakes again. this book is like the experience when you begin a rollercoaster and it’s slow increasing up up up and then you’re having fun because you’re anticipating the impending stomach drops and tunnels of screams but it’s an internal feeling and then suddenly you start going down down down and you just can’t stop. that’s what this book felt like.

the characters annoyed me but in a good way (occasionally found kit to be insufferable but also i couldn’t stop thinking about her).

bravo for richter’s description of opal.

i was genuinely surprised at how much i enjoyed this book.

thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

4.75/5 stars

The Understudy had a cool premise, and I really enjoyed learning about opera singing—it’s such a fascinating world. The story follows a young opera singer navigating the intense and competitive world of professional performance. As she struggles to prove herself, rivalries, ambition, and personal drama start to take center stage, blurring the lines between passion and obsession.

That said, the book didn’t really work for me. The writing felt a bit clunky, and the characters didn’t seem believable, which made it hard to stay invested in the story. Some of their choices just didn’t make much sense. If you’re into opera, there are some interesting details, but overall, it wasn’t the most engaging read.

The "Understudy" looks at the vicious world of opera - with a talented leading lady feeling a bit threatened by her gorgeous, unfriendly understudy. I will admit - I love over the top, campy stories, especially if they involve opera or performing. With the introduction of Barbarella as an opera I was ready and buckled in. However, I lost interest about halfway - the antics felt too performative and over the top, the characters just a tad extreme and unlikeable to seem realistic yet not so over the top that it amplified the camp.

While I enjoyed the twists and turns in the story, especially in the 2nd half, I struggled with almost every decision Kit made. Sometimes she was too forthcoming and other times too timid, and sometimes she took ridiculous risks while other times she did nothing. I couldn't figure out her personality at all. That being said, I didn't exactly dislike her- it made for good reading, albeit with some frustration on my part.

A fun read and a very interesting peek into a world I hadn’t yet read about in a thriller. I enjoyed the All About Eve-ness in the first half of the story and the intrigue continued through to the end. While the main character certainly made some choices that were a bit hard to justify, it was an entertaining read overall!

Kit finally gets the lead role in the newest opera, Barbarella. Kit shouldn't have anything to worry about on opening night until her understudy, Yolanda, shows how much she's willing to put Kit through to get the lead role. When events turn dire, Kit must figure out if she has what it takes to play in Barbarella or if Yolanda ruined any chance of Kit making it in the opera world.

"The Understudy" blew my expectations away when I started reading. My eyes became glued to the pages from the moment the police became involved till curtain call. As someone who has never listened to opera, much less sang in public, Ritcher ensured that her characters' singing was unique to the characters and easy to follow. The author did a great job listing the sequence of events. The 'big reveal' wasn't even the biggest surprise in the story, and for me, that shows how talented Ritcher is.

I'm excited to see all the reviews praising Ritcher's work in August, it's well deserved.