Samantha Sleuths in Style on a New Continent
As a cozy series reader, one thing I love returning to a series for is the familiarity of a series’ locations and characters. But I get why authors want to take their characters outside the familiar every so often. That’s what Diane Vallere is doing with Murder Italian Style, the sixteenth book in her series about Samantha Kidd.
Over the course of the series, we’ve gotten to watch Samantha bloom after a rocky start returning to her hometown of Ribbon, Pennsylvania. Her life has been complicated by a number of fashion related crimes. As this book opens, she and her husband, Nick, and father-in-law are leaving for an after Christmas trip to visit family friends in a small village in Italy.
However, when they arrive, Samantha learns there is more to the visit than ringing in the New Year. A murder took place twenty-six years ago, and a man has been serving time for it ever since. The convicted killer was their hostess’s boyfriend at the time, and she’s often wondered what happened that night. Now, she wants Samantha to find the truth. With a language barrier as an additional road block, can Samantha solve the cold case?
Given the distance the characters are from home, we don’t see any of the other recurring players. Yes, I missed them, but only a little. The characters we meet in Italy are vibrant and fun, and I enjoyed getting to explore the new setting. It’s extra fun given the New Year’s holiday, and that provides a good back drop to some of the action.
The mystery is good. Given the personal stakes for the characters we meet, it is still compelling even if it is a cold case and not a current crime. And yes, we do come to care for the characters enough to make us care about the outcome. I thought I had things figured out at one point, but I turned out to be wrong. While the overall mystery made sense when we reached the end, there were a couple of things that did leave me scratching my head. But they were minor overall.
Samantha might be in another country, but the book still contains her light, breezy narration. There are even quite a few laughs and smiles along the way.
And we got some interesting character development that I’m sure we will hear more about going forward.
Fans of the series already know that Samantha has a snack and junk food addiction. So they won’t be surprised to learn we hear plenty about Italian food along the way. If you enjoy Italian food, this will definitely make you hungry.
Fans of Samantha will find Murder Italian Style is a trip well worth packing your bags for. If you haven’t met her yet, you’ll be glad you changed that.
All of the Samantha Kidd Mysteries are always in style.
Note: I received an ARC of this book.
I love Italian Food, but wouldn't want to knowingly start a series this far in!
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