Sari Gilbert

This book is set pre 1999 as Italy now uses the Euro. The crime drama involves the Mafia, the Vatican, the French Embassy, a judge and a myriad of policemen, holding it all together is an American journalist writing an expose. There are a lot of different characters, including acquaintances, journalist colleagues, shop owners and bartenders, which makes the story very stodgy and somewhat difficult to follow. For example, we have a meticulous description of a character who makes a meal with oil, garlic, herbs and pasta for the journalist Claire and then not long after is killed. Removing this character and the scene would arguably make no difference to the story. Equally every time a character travels in the city we get a detailed itinerary including the name of the street, where they turned, parked and any landmarks. I’m sure the author thinks we should be impressed with her local knowledge, but really all this does is slow down the action and contributes nothing to the plot. The constant reference to clothes, getting dressed and drinking coffee is something we all do and the reader does not need to be told this information either. On the other side, we know very little about the motives of the main players in this elaborate fraud and how they are related to one another. The ending does expose all the character’s involvement within the plot and concludes with a sinister note.

In short, it is an interesting story, but vastly over-written and would benefit from more attention to the main characters and their motives, rather than the waiters, coffee shop owners and ancillary staff.… (more)