The Maestros are more than just characters in T.A. Sigafus’ book "The Case of Beethoven’s Bandit" (Clairborne Publishing, 2006). To the author, they’re as real as the people she passes on the street every day. And these days she’s roaming the streets of Gainesville in search of clues to her next mystery.

"I knew it was the perfect place to write the moment I laid eyes on it," says Sigafus, referring to the little blue cottage on five wooded acres just a stone’s throw past the Gainesville city limit sign. Sigafus and husband, Chad, purchased the property in September 2006.

Sigafus grew up in Minneapolis, Minn., where she started writing poems and stories at the age of seven. A lover of music, she taught herself to play guitar and soon began writing songs. Sigafus describes herself as an unusual child.

"While the other kids were playing kick the can, I was holed up in my room scribbling feverishly to capture the words that were swirling around in my head before they drifted out the window into the soft, summer day. My dream was to publish a book someday."

After high school, Sigafus put her creative ambitions on hold to become a respiratory therapist. She graduated from St. Paul College in 1982 and landed a job at the University of Minnesota Hospital. It was only a matter of time until her creative desires grew too strong to ignore.

Determined to follow her heart, Sigafus quit her hard-earned occupation and joined a touring folk-rock band, where she met and married Chad Sigafus, her husband of 21 years. The couple toured and performed together until their first child was born. Fearing "the road" would take its toll on their young family, the Sigafuses settled onto a family farm in southern Missouri, where they had three more children. Being the mother of four and juggling a busy music career left Sigafus little time to pursue her lifelong dream of writing a book.

In 2002, a reluctant Sigafus packed up her blank manuscript pages as her family prepared for yet another move, this time to Mountain Grove, where husband Chad could be closer to his work.

"I didn’t want to go," she admits, shaking her head. "I just wanted to stay home and write."

Little did Sigafus realize that the then dreaded move would lay the foundation for her Little Maestro Mysteries.

"I was sitting at the dining room table staring at a blank computer screen when the telephone rang," recalls Sigafus.

The call was from the principal of Mountain Grove Christian Academy, where the Sigafus children were enrolled, with an invitation for Sigafus to teach music at the school.

Having never considered the possibility of teaching, Sigafus reluctantly accepted the position. The following week, she blew the dust off her weathered, black Yamaha guitar and trotted off for her first day of school like a giddy child.

"It didn’t take long for me to fit right in," reports Sigafus. "The kids really took to my guitar. The next day I brought a violin to class…then a cello, and I started teaching them about string instruments and classical composers. They were so excited – and so was I!"

Sigafus soon found herself swamped with requests for private music lessons. That’s when she opened Main Street Music, a private music lesson studio, where she rotated a roster of up to 55 students per week, in addition to her classroom teaching.

"Looking back I was a glutton for punishment," chuckled Sigafus. "But I just couldn’t turn down a child who wanted to learn music."

The idea for the Little Maestro Mysteries came to Sigafus while conducting a string ensemble rehearsal at the academy.

"I wanted to write a book that would inspire kids to learn about classical music," Sigafus explains. "There were four students who were always fooling around. Instead of getting mad at them, I was cracking up laughing – they were hilarious. That’s when I decided to base my four main characters on those students, and I just started writing."

"The Case of Beethoven’s Bandit" was released in June 2006. It was a dream come true for Sigafus.

However, the taste of accomplishment soon turned bittersweet. Three months after the book was released, 47-year-old Sigafus suffered a stress-related heart attack. She was devastated. Luckily for Sigafus, an angiogram showed only mild heart damage. The incident still managed to turn her world upside down. Sadly, she closed the doors to her lesson studio, resigned from Mountain Grove Christian Academy, and made what she hopes will be her final move.

"Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise," says a teary-eyed Sigafus. "Now I have the perfect place to write and all the time in the world to do what I really love."

"The Case of Beethoven’s Bandit" is the first book in Sigafus’ Little Maestro Mystery Series. The story is rooted in the town of Shady Tree, which bears and uncanny resemblance to Mountain Grove. The Maestros, a group of four young music students under the direction of their eccentric music teacher, Madam Macaroni, set out to solve a mystery involving a stolen Beethoven. The book is recommended for ages 9 and up and may be borrowed from the Ozark County Library.

To read more about T.A. Sigafus, visit her website at www.tasigafus.com.

By the way, if you happen to pass Ms. Sigafus, be sure to say hello. But be forewarned…you must might find yourself in her next book!