Murder in Verona by T.A. WilliamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
The ninth outing for former Scotland Yard detective Dan Armstrong and his trusty labrador Oscar.
Dan's girlfriend Anna's daughter has gifted them tickets to the opera in Verona. It's something Anna loves but Dan doesn't know much about it and fears he may loathe it.
Whilst getting a light refreshment with Oscar in the village, Dan is introduced to one of his neighbours, an elderly lady called Violetta Argento who drives a vintage Bugatti with reckless abandon through the village. Violetta is intrigued when she discovers Dan is a private detective, her son Rudolfo, a famous opera singer died recently in a car crash. The police have concluded it was an accident or (whispers) suicide, but Violetta is convinced that it was murder and suspects his wife who she loathes.
The Argento family are extremely wealthy, and the family business is jointly owned by Rudolpho and his two cousins - could his death have been motivated by greed? Rudolpho was also notorious for his womanising - could his wife or maybe a spurned lover have tried to kill him? Was he upset in anyway to substantiate the allegation of suicide?
Dan, Anna, and Oscar travel to Verona to the Argento Opera Academy, close to the family business headquarters, which was generously founded and endowed by Rudolpho to interview Rudolpho's widow and his cousins. Dan's investigations reveal that Rudolpho was a man of contradictions, generous and friendly, but he left a trail of broken hearts behind him. Some women hint that he may have been pressing unwanted attentions on women. Did his womanising end when he married? Why does his mother hate her daughter-in-law?
This was yet another cosy mystery set in the wonderful Italian countryside. My only complaint is that I am on a diet and all the descriptions of the luscious Italian food was very distracting.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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