Murder in Venice: A BRAND NEW instalment in the cozy mystery series from T A Williams by T.A. WilliamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Dan Armstrong, a retired detective from Scotland Yard, now living in Italy and acting as a private investigator, when he isn’t writing crime novels, receives a request from a world-famous actress Alice Graceland to meet her in Venice. Excited that she might want to make one of his novels into a film, Dan travels to Venice, where Alice has bought and renovated an ancient fortification on an island. Sadly for Dan, Alice isn’t interested in making one of his novels into a film, instead she is hosting a murder mystery evening for a small group of influential Hollywood movers and shakers and wants Dan to play the role of the detective. As one would expect from someone rich and famous, the murder mystery evening will involve costumes, paid actors, and a sumptuous feast prepared by Alice’s staff. Alice herself will play the role of the Doge’s wife, the real power behind the throne and she will be the victim. Dan will encourage the guests to discuss their theories as to who murdered Alice’s character and then reveal the murderer’s identity.
However, when Dan returns to Venice two weeks later for the party it appears that the other guests are not Alice’s friends, in fact the atmosphere could be cut with a knife. The guests are even arguing amongst themselves. Alice’s PA tells Dan that she suspects Alice is writing a reveal-all memoir, and that the guests all feature heavily. Indeed, Alice admits as much to Dan, confiding that she wants to confront each of the guests with what they did and give them a chance to apologise/confess as appropriate, if they do she will temper what she has written in her draft memoir.
I think we can all guess what happens, there is a real murder and Dan will have to use his knowledge of the individuals and the crimes exposed in Alice’s memoirs to determine the murderer and the reason.
This was another enjoyable detective story featuring Dan and his trusty Labrador Oscar, the only issue I have is that if Oscar trusts/likes a human I know they can’t be the murderer – unless T.A. Williams mixes it up in the next book.
Anyway, if you like the idea of a cosy mystery set on an island in the Venice lagoon with descriptions of food that will have you salivating, look no further.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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