I picked this up from the Audible Plus catalog and oh boy am I glad I didn't pay for it. I made three separate attempts and just couldn't get past the second chapter. ( )

In a post WWII world, four people - each damaged in their own way - are called the Italian home of a woman they've never met at the behest of her will. They are each tasked with finding the codicil to the will that tells them exactly what has been bequeathed them, all whilst staying in the Villa during the spring.[return][return]Despite being a little run down (the war having removed all the active and fit men from the area), the nature and the view start working their magic on people, so that even when confronted with their issues, they can find a way through.[return][return]Some things were a little too "meh" for my liking - the sudden finding of the typewriter for the authour with writer's block, and the library (including religious discourses) for the man taught by Jesuits who needed to find his faith again - which *could* have been better placed in a book with more supernatural undertones, but when placed in this story was a little too twee.[return][return]However, the book was a sunny book to read in the run up to winter. ( )

Mostly likeable characters set as a bit of a classic mystery in post war Italy. But the book is slow moving and there is a great deal of repetition. Using Dante's Divine Comedy as a plot device leads to some scenes that feel forced and there are books that use it more effectively. Generally an ok summer ready. ( )

While I loved the beautiful Italian setting, I found it hard to connect with this book. The plot was very slow, especially at the start when the characters were being introduced. However, the mystery was good and the characters likeable. ( )

A bit of fluff about four people summoned to a villa in Italy to find a codicil to a dead woman's will that makes them all heirs to her estate. A great distraction from our post-election dramas ( )