Murder in Portofino by T.A. WilliamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Dan Armstrong, his girlfriend Anna, and his dog Oscar have gone to Portofino for a long weekend of sightseeing, walking, Bob Dylan, and gastronomy. Eating dinner at a restaurant after the Bob Dylan concert Dan and Anna's meal is overshadowed by the loud and drunken activities of a large group of people in the private dining room. Imagine Dan's surprise when some of the rowdy crowd turn out to be famous British comedians and TV presenters. Dan also overhears a conversation between two men who seem very unhappy about a third man, with threats of violence being made.
Their min-break is progressing well, until Dan discovers that one of the rowdy crowd has been murdered. Thinking that the conversation he overheard might be important he explains the discussion to the detective in charge of the case, and promptly gets roped into the investigation, much to Anna's chagrin.
Oh, and Dan has also been roped into investigating the disappearance of a young British woman who has been teaching English as a foreign language, she hasn't answered her phone in days and her parents back in England are frantic with worry, although her older sister just suspects she has lost her charger and has gone off with her latest boyfriend.
A previous gripe was that everything got way too complicated (I think there was one book where one person killed someone, then they were killed by someone else in revenge and so on). Luckily this one was relatively straightforward and although there were numerous suspects there were sufficient doubts to keep you guessing.
Overall, you know where you are with these books. Cosy retired copper and his trusty dog solve mysteries against the backdrop of the gorgeous Italian countryside, with copious luscious descriptions of delicious-sounding food.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment