Sarah Caudwell's novels are quite erudite and subtly witty. ( )

"Highly intelligent and educated half-wit" Julia goes on a holiday to Venice where she's accused of murder. Her friends back home in London, mainly barristers, take it upon themselves to solve the crime and prove Julia's innocence. It is narrated by Hilary Tamar, Oxford don of unspecified gender, and told largely although not exclusively through Julia's letters to her friends and their commentary on such.
Very witty and funny, full of intelligent and only slightly eccentric people, this was excellent. I've just found it's a series so I will be finding the next ones as soon as possible.

Julia Larwood finds herself suspected of murdering a young man she just slept with in the afternoon. She is puzzled, to say the least as are her London colleges. As they work to solve the puzzle, she must wait in Venice.
This was a good mystery. I was unable to come up with the solution, and it was fun getting there. What seemed to be witty dialog at the beginning though, seemed trite and contrived by the end. The characters ended up annoying rather than pleasing my ears. Although the relationships are kept vague, there is enough spelled out to know that these people seem very superficial.
So, I would not read this again, though, if I found an inexpensive copy of another book by this author, I might try it. I will not be keeping this book. ( )

Caudwell keeps up a tone of relentless silliness as she presents and solves a mystery from a distance, using letters and phone calls from the accused murderer to move her story along. The humor is mostly successful, and she does a nice job of progressively revealing relationships among the characters. An enjoyable read, but not one that makes me jump up and find more by this author. ( )