The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith

This is probably one for readers who enjoy Raymond Chandler books and the film Casablanca. The author uses the hard-boiled style to present a tough-guy love story set in the era when Italy went truly, totally bonkers: the end of WWII. The spare style is best appreciated if you picture the text as a film playing in your mind.

Family, rivalry, friendship, loyalties, prejudice, politics, pop culture and military culture all mix together in this well-researched book. Through it all we are shown how the exhausted Italians just tried to keep their heads down and emotions doused so they could make it through to the end of the horrible nightmare. Clinging to daily rituals and pretending that the outside world was more fiction than reality, the inhabitants of Venice feel very real in this story.

Readers will get the most out of the story if they have a basic understanding of the history of the era. Briefly, after insanely embracing Mussolini, a megalomaniacal bully, criminal, misogynistic, pathological liar who promised the world and more to the poor country, Italy then came to its senses and switched sides in the war Mussolini signed them up to. Then they had to fight a war against Nazis while at the same time fighting a civil war between opposing Italian political sides.

To top up the insanity, an embattled and increasingly bonkers Mussolini established a fantasy Republic of Salo in northern Italy where he deluded himself into believing he could hang on to power. The author takes the reader into that crazy place at a certain point in the novel, and portrays the crackpot enablers of the dictator very ably, bringing to mind the evil, manipulative minions in the classic 1945 Rossellini film Roma, Citta Aperta.

The tough-guy with a broken heart protagonist of the book, the Venetian fisherman Cenzo, has shut himself down to make it through the war. He fishes, sleeps, eats and broods until he fishes up a young Venetian woman, Giulia, who escaped a purge of Jewish prisoners. She brings him back to life, and through the course of the book, she becomes the reason he reengages with the insanity around him, putting him in contact with the Republic of Salo and the forces fighting in Italy on all sides.

At first, refined Giulia is seen thus by jaded, coarse Cenzo:

The girl was a brief interruption in his life and the less he knew about her, the better.

Occasionally we see the story from Giulia's perspective, but mainly the narration is from Cenzo's perspective, which reflects the Italian perspective at that time.

Then you switch sides in the middle of a war, it gets very confusing.

The first part of the book is the reawakening of Cenzo that comes through his discussions with Giulia as he teaches her his fisherman's craft. Like therapy, describing what he loves most in life, what keeps him sane when the world around his is off its rocker, helps Cenzo open up to Giulia. He even comes to care about her troubles.

...he found his own miseries reduced in size when he focused on hers.

Acts Two and Three of the novel then move the reawakened Cenzo into the world of spying, the retreating German Nazis, the rival partisan factions, and the wacko Republic of Salo. There is some violence but this is not a gory book. There is some sex, but suggested only, not in scene. There are family rivalries that become explained as the story progresses, explaining some of Cenzo's resentments and his heartbreak. Cenzo is a tough-guy who falls for a waif and tries to protect her in the middle of a world gone crazy.

The author is a wonderful writer with a distinctive style that will appeal to his loyal fans. Some readers may find the spare, butch, hard-boiled style not to their liking. I suggest sticking with it, and being an active reader, visualizing the story as it is told, and empathizing with the characters to understand their feelings. The style is for perceptive, informed readers who don't need, or want, everything spelled out. The plot is unraveled at the end with a clear explanation for the reader.

For Italophiles, the book offers a look at an odd moment in Italy's history, but from a different, more personal angle than found in history books. Brush up on the history beforehand, then enjoy the details that come out from the author's in depth research, along with the tender tough-guy love story.

From the book's description:

The highly anticipated new standalone novel from Martin Cruz Smith, whom The Washington Post has declared “that uncommon phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction,” The Girl from Venice is a suspenseful World War II love story set against the beauty, mystery, and danger of occupied Venice.

Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city known as La Serenissima is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. One night, under a canopy of stars, a fisherman named Cenzo comes across a young woman’s body floating in the lagoon and soon discovers that she is still alive and in trouble.

Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Giulia is on the run from the SS. Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia rather than hand her over to the Nazis. This act of kindness leads them into the world of Partisans, random executions, the arts of forgery and high explosives, Mussolini’s broken promises, the black market and gold, and, everywhere, the enigmatic maze of the Venice Lagoon.

The Girl from Venice is a thriller, a mystery, and a retelling of Italian history that will take your breath away. Most of all it is a love story.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

Murder Most Unfortunate (Rick Montoya Italian Mystery) by David P. Wagner

Rick Montoya, the protagonist of the Rick Montoya Italian Mystery Series, is a cowboy boot-wearing, hyphenated Italian from New Mexico in the United States.  His mother was from Rome, Italy, and she made sure her son grew up fluent in her native tongue.  University degrees helped Rick's language skills further, and set him up well for his career as a translator and interpreter in Italy, which is possible because he holds dual citizenship.

The recurring cast of the series includes a friend with the Italian art police, and an uncle who is a police Commissario, providing Rick, the amateur detective, with that necessary insider information to help the hero catch the bad guys by the end of the book.

These are the books in the series to date:

1. Cold Tuscan Stone
2. Death in the Dolomites
3. Murder Most Unfortunate
4. Return to Umbria (reviewed on this site) 

I've only read book three in the series, Murder Most Unfortunate, which is set in Northern Italy's Bassano del Grappa on the Brenta River, in the Veneto region.  The murder mystery begins with the murder and we know the motive, making it structured like a police procedural, but we follow an amateur detective, not the police on their search for the killer. 

Cozy mysteries establish the setting and possible suspects and victims long before the murder takes place, then set the amateur detective loose, but we get those suspects and learn about the victim after the murder in Murder Most Unfortunate. 

So I'd have to put this book/series as a cross between the two genres, with elements of the traditional male protagonist adventure story, like the hot female character who falls for our tough-smart hero and joins him on his adventure, and some action sequences.  Rick, or Riccardo as he is often called by Italians, has an eye for the ladies, and his handsome looks and cowboy boot, New Mexican uniqueness draws the ladies to him.

The author includes descriptions of the Italian setting, but spends a bit more time describing the local food specialties, which should please the vicarious gourmand readers.  There are also some Italian words sprinkled through the story to add flavor.  The dialog is a bit stilted, but that could be because it is used to move the story forward, presenting much of the information through interviews with the suspects.

Part of the male adventure story aspect of the story is a hot, green-eyed waif in tight clothes who falls for Rick Montoya and helps him with his investigation.  I thought the author shouldn't have called the thirty-year-old woman a "girl" or even a "young woman".  Rick and his hot waif get to enjoy some action scenes with racing cars and motorcycles.  The author keeps the story clean, however, and there is only a small bit of in scene violence.

All in all the book was a light, entertaining read, but probably more suited to a male reader.  Don't expect literature or psychological drama or deep conspiracies.  This is a light mystery novel set in Italy, with a hunky male protagonist, some local color, and much local food.

 

Here are all the books in the Rick Montoya Italian Mystery Series to date, with their official book descriptions.

Cold Tuscan Stone - Book 1

Rick Montoya has just moved from Santa Fe to Rome, embracing the life of a translator. He’s beginning to embrace la dolce vita when school friend Beppo, now senior in the Italian Art Squad, recruits Rick for an unofficial undercover role. Armed with a list of galleries, suspects, and an expense account, Rick would arrive in Tuscany posing as a buyer for a Santa Fe gallery and flush out traffickers in priceless burial urns.

But, before sunset on his first day in Volterra, the challenge intensifies. Rick has one quick conversation with a gallery employee who dies minutes later in a brutal fall from a high cliff. Has the trade in fraudulent artifacts upgraded to murder? Are the traffickers already on to Rick?

The local Commissario and his team consider Rick an amateur, and worse, a foreigner. Plus Rick is a suspect in what proves to be the dead man’s murder. While the Volterra squad pursues its leads, Rick and the Volterra museum director continue to interview his list: a top gallery owner, a low-profile import/export businessman and his enterprising color-coordinated assistant, a sensuous heiress with a private art specialty and clientele. When Rick’s lover Erica, an art history professor, arrives from Rome to visit him, she rekindles a friendship with an alluring, maybe dangerous, heiress. Has Rick’s role made him the target of both cops and criminals?

Death in the Dolomites - Book 2

Rick Montoya is looking forward to a break from his translation business in Rome—a week of skiing in the Italian Alps with old college buddy Flavio. But Rick’s success helping the Italian police with a murder in Tuscany sends the Campiglio cops his way.

An American banker working in Milano is missing. The man’s sister, an attractive and spoiled divorcée, has no idea where he could be, nor do the locals who saw him on his way to the slopes. With the discovery of a body, Rick and Inspector Albani widen their list of suspects. Picturesque resort Campiglio harbors old rivalries, citizens on the make, and a cut-throat political campaign. Why would these local issues, any of them, connect to the missing banker?

The investigation doesn't keep Rick and Flavio from enjoying perfect ski conditions in the Dolomites and glorious after-ski wines and bowls of fresh pasta. As for women—Rick has to wonder if the banker’s sister is just hitting him up for information. The action heats up, testing laid-back Rick whose uncle, a Roman cop, keeps urging him to make the police his career.
As in Cold Tuscan Stone, Death in the Dolomites immerses us in the sights, smells and tastes of Italy, this time in a picture-perfect Alpine town with a surprising negative side.

Murder Most Unfortunate - Book 3

Winding up an interpreter job in Bassano del Grappa at a conference on artist Jacopo da Bassano, a famous native son, Rick Montoya looks forward to exploring the town.  And it would be fun to look into the history of two long-missing paintings by the master, a topic that caused the only dust-up among the normally staid group of international scholars attending the seminar.

Bassano has much to offer to Rick the tourist, starting with its famous covered bridge, an ancient castle, and several picturesque walled towns within striking distance.  He also plans to savor a local cuisine that combines the best of Venice with dishes from the Po Valley and the surrounding mountains.  These plans come to a sudden halt when one of the seminar's professors turns up dead.

Rick is once again drawn into a murder investigation, this time with a pair of local cops who personify the best and the worst of the Italian police force.  At the same time he's willingly pulled into a relationship with Betta Innocenti, the daughter of a local gallery owner, who is equally intrigued by the lost paintings.  They quickly realize that the very people who might know the story are also the main suspects in the murder—and that someone not above resorting to violence is watching their every move.

Here is a direct link to Murder Most Unfortunate's page at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's website where he blogs and provides information on the locations in the books and their regional dishes.  Visit the Poison Pen Press page for the Rick Montoya series.

The Contessa's Vendetta by Mirella Sichirollo Patzer

Are you in the mood for some Gothic romantic revenge fiction set in the mid sixteen hundreds in Italy?  Even if this is not your favorite genre, the author's lyrical and lovely writing style may capture your heart.  We are treated to a first-person memoirs written by a woman who has voluntarily sequestered herself in a convent after a tumultuous young life.

Now, long after my ordeal is over, I want to narrate the events of one short year; the most agonizing year in my life...

Carlotta Mancini of Vicenza, Italy, was an extremely innocent woman, and dangerously wealthy, too.  She attracted cads and rakes, and one rake in particular, the sociopathic man she married.  The older Carlotta warns us of her shortsightedness along the rocky road, hinting at events to come in her tale.

Without doubt, he was the most majestic looking man I had ever encountered, and I, his late wife, still trembled in the wake of his splendor.

Carlotta offers many warnings to her female readers that they make their own messes with men, by allowing the men to abuse their emotions.

Woe the blindness of women.  With all our abilities; with all the world before us to conquer, we crumble at an abusive word or rude gesture by a man...

This is escapist fare of 370+ pages transports the reader to another world, Vicenza and Venice, Italy, in the 1600s.  We get high drama, Gothic horrors, death, ghosts, cunning plots galore, and the central vendetta is the story of extreme innocence turned to extreme hate. 

There were multiple moments when I mentally yelled at Carlotta to stop her deadly plot and turn to living life, but that was not to be.  She lost her mind early in the book because of a severe trauma, and became monomaniacal about her vendetta, not seeing the chances that were before her for a second chance at happiness.

From the book's description (some spoilers):

To be buried alive is everyone's worst nightmare, and when faced with the ultimate betrayal, a murderous vendetta is one woman's only solution.

A deadly plague is raging, killing thousands in 17th century Vicenza Italy.  Carlotta Mancini struggles to protect her family and servants, but despite her precautions, she is the one who falls prey to the deadly illness.

Her body is tossed into a coffin and swiftly buried in the underground, dank confines of her family’s vault.  But Carlotta is not dead; she is merely unconscious because of the illness.

She returns home to her beloved husband, her best friend, and her darling daughter.  But before she reveals herself to her loved ones, she learns of an endless series of lies, deceits, and betrayal.

As she unravels the labyrinth of shocking treachery, her wrath breathes life to an overwhelming need for vengeance.  Slowly, meticulously, she launches her diabolical vendetta.

The Contessa's Vendetta is a historical fiction thriller ripe with suspense from first page to last. A tale of betrayal and revenge that will hold you spellbound until the shocking ending!

The Contessa's Vendetta is a retelling of the classic novel, Vendetta by Marie Corelli.  Inspired by this epic classic novel; a new and captivating tale in a new setting, a new century, and with new plot twists while remaining faithful to key story elements.

Here is a direct link to The Contessa's Vendetta at Amazon.com:

 

This author is an established Indie author, with several quality books to her name, each with an attractive cover and book design.  Here are all her historical novels set in Italy, with direct links to the books at Amazon, through the images.

The Orphan of the Olive Tree
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

AWARDED THE B.R.A.G.G. MEDALLION for Indie Fiction

A compelling historical romance and family saga.  A blood oath, a dreadful curse, and the evil eye. A dark family secret that will shatter lives and the woman who must risk everything to keep it buried.

From two neighbouring villas in the heart of the Tuscan countryside to the elegance of Siena; from a world steeped in ancient superstitions to a culture where family honour is paramount comes, this multi-layered novel of the lives, loves, secrets and strivings of two women and their families in the 13th century.

The Contessa's Vendetta
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

The Contessa's Vendetta is a historical fiction thriller ripe with suspense from first page to last. A tale of betrayal and revenge that will hold you spellbound until the shocking ending.

The Contessa's Vendetta is a retelling of the classic novel, Vendetta by Marie Corelli. Inspired by this epic classic novel; a new and captivating tale in a new setting, a new century, and with new plot twists while remaining faithful to key story elements.




The Novice (reviewed on this site)
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

In 10th century Naples, Saracens run rampant, annihilating villages, murdering women and children.  Death and despair is everywhere.  Alone in the world, Sara is a young novice plagued with doubts about taking her final vows to become a nun.  When her convent is attacked, she flees for her life straight into the arms of a group of Saracens who leave her to die alone in the woods.  An honorable cavaliere named Nicolo comes to her rescue and offers to take her to the safety of Naples. 

As they journey together, they are irresistibly drawn to each other.  Believing Sara to be a nun, the honorable Nicolo is torn between love and duty to respect her vows.  Heartbroken, he does what honor demands and sets her free before she can tell him the truth that she is not a nun.  In her search to reunite with Nicolo, she encounters Umberto, a dark and dangerous man who will stop at nothing in his obsession to possess her.  With her sharp intellect, and her heart, Sara must rely on her own courage and strength to escape her abuser and find the only man she will ever love.

The Betrothal
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

Two young lovers bound by their love for each other. A dreadful overlord who will shatter lives to possess the woman he loves, and the dark secrets that one woman will risk everything to keep buried. An absorbing novel about wicked intentions, murder, obsessive love, undisclosed secrets, unstoppable destinies, and the woman whose secret will either destroy or restore lives.

The Betrothal is a retelling of the classic novel, The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) by Alessandro Manzoni. Inspired by this epic Italian classic novel; a new and captivating tale in a new setting, a new century, and with new plot twists while remaining faithful to key story elements.

The Pendant
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

A medieval tale about a lost ancient treasure. A 100 year family feud. And a woman with a passion richer than the bloodstone pendant she wears around her neck.

This Italian historical romance novel with a Gothic flare has it all - an ancient mystery, a bloodstone pendant with a secret, murder, vengeance, and a love story to take your breath away.  An historical Gothic romance of murder, desperation, and true love.

Italian Historical Box-Set
(click on the image to go to the book's Amazon.com page)

Please visit the author's website and blog, and her historical novel review site.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Stargazers by Allan Chapman

The subtitle of Stargazers is Galileo, Copernicus, the Telescope and the Church, but that is a bit deceptive, since the book is really a history of astronomy itself.  The author spends the most time, however, discussing the "Astronomical Renaissance" from the year 1500 to 1700.  I requested a review-copy because of the large section of the book us devoted to Galileo Galilei, the famous Italian astronomer. 

The section on Galileo begins about 29% into the book and goes to about 43% of the book.  The whole book covers:

• Aristotle's universe
• Copernicus's revolution
• Tycho Brahe's earth-sun-centric universe
• Kepler's laws of motion
• Galileo Galilei's telescope and visual proof
• The Jesuits missionaries' telescope based astronomy around the world
• Protestants and science
• Francis Bacon and natural philosophy
• The Royal Society and the International Fellowship of Science
• The heavenly clockwork and the power of the scientific method

There are Notes, Further Reading suggestions, a full Index and illustrations throughout the text.

The spread of the study of astronomy was thanks to the Jesuit schools set up to educate young men in thinking critically, and knowing how to argue and defend a proposition.  They were educated in the seven liberal arts, one of which was astronomy. 

But those teachers would have had nothing to teach without the ancient texts that were preserved by religious monastic societies throughout the middle ages:  the ancient scientists provided many instruments, astronomical tables, calculations and observations.

Galileo's drawings of the phases of the moon

And the ancient texts would not have been available to the teachers and students without the printing press, which from 1500 onward provided affordable texts throughout Europe of books that previously were the domain of mainly churches and princes.

It is the printing of the new ideas of the learned that made the astronomical renaissance possible.  Ideas built upon ideas, observations stimulated more theories, which pushed thinkers to desire proof, which lead to more instruments...

Galileo comes alive through the details provided by the author about Galileo's life, upbringing, his world and his public record of arrogance and cruelty.  The Italian was:

...unmystical, hard-headed, argumentative, and possessed of a powerful personality that did not take easily to being contradicted.

There has been much myth-building surrounding Galileo, many stories that may not be true, lots of anecdotes to show the man's greatness, but few reveal his nastiness. 

Frontispiece of Opere Di Galileo Galilei, Published in Bologna in 1656

Traveling around Venice, Padua and other important Italian city-states, the centers of learning during the Renaissance, the author looks at the advancement of astronomical mathematics, engineering, and astronomical tools that Galileo had a hand in.

Galileo was a mathematician and theoretician who used his applied mathematics and engineering skills to create a refracting telescope with special lenses that allowed him to observe the objects in the sky better than anyone before him, and he wrote about his observations of Jupiter, the moon, Saturn's rings, Venus's transit of the sun, and the milky way's stars.

One of the myth-making stories of Galileo experimenting with gravity from the top of the leaning Bell Tower of Pisa

You have to be something of an astronomy fanatic, or a beginning student of astronomy, to read this book.  It is rich with detail, but since it covers such a long period of time some sections are rather cursory.  The curious reader will want to check out the Further Reading suggestions to flesh out the story of astronomy.  But this is an excellent introductory text!

From the book's description:

Stargazers presents a comprehensive history of how leading astronomers, such as Galileo and Copernicus, mapped the stars from 1500AD to around 1700AD.  Building on the work of the Greek and Arabian astrologers before him, church lawyer Nicholas Copernicus proposed the idea of a sun-centred universe.  It was later popularized by Galileo – a brilliant debater whose abrasive style won him many enemies – who presented new evidence, which suggested that the earth moved.  

This thorough examination of the work of both men explores both their achievements and influences. It then traces the impact of their ideas on those who followed them, including Sir Francis Bacon, Dr John Wilkins, Dr Robert Hooke, Sir Isaac Newton and Reverend Dr James Bradley.  

Chapman investigates the Church’s role and its intriguing relationship with the astronomers of the day, many of whom were churchgoers.  He rebuts the popular view that the Church was opposed to the study of astronomy.  In reality, it led the search to discover more.  In 1728, Copernicus’s theory of the moving earth was finally proven by the young Reverend Dr James Bradley.

Frontispiece of Galileo's 'De Systemate Mundi' Depicting Aristotle, Ptolomy, Copernicus, 1635

Here are direct links to Stargazers at Amazon.com:

This is a sanitized version of Galileo's life and work:

Visit the author's page at Gresham College.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Morning Colors by Sharon Timm

The Romantic Suspense genre can vary quite a bit in content:  a bit of suspense and lots of romance, lots of suspense and a bit of romance, and somewhere in between.  When these books are set in Italy, there is generally lots of Italy, and lots of American and English women swooning over Italian men.  The protagonist of these novels is invariably a fragile English-speaking woman who is in Italy, in trouble, and who is bowled over by a hunky Italian, usually someone with law-enforcement. 

Morning Colors promised to be something a bit different than the usual, which is why I read it.  The protagonist is a highly capable and distinguished Navy Chief, Samantha Logan.  She comes in contact with the Italian police because she saves a man's life in Venice after he is stabbed by a stranger.  Samantha butts heads and egos throughout the book with the head of the Venice police detectives.

All this combativeness is refreshingly different from other romantic suspense books set in Italy.  For Samantha:

It was more familiar to be in charge, to direct rather than to be directed.

She is tough and successful in the Navy but recognizes that:

Women were quickly accepted if they were good at their jobs, but mediocrity was not even remotely acceptable.

One aspect of Morning Colors does conform to one standard feature of this genre, however:  both Samantha and her love interest are incredibly hot, and they are both continually mentioning how hot the other one is, and they are unable to stop being interested in each other because of this hotness.  I could have done without all that superficiality.  The characters were interesting enough not to have to be super-models for me to care about their growing relationship.

Samantha finds Italy and the Italian policeman she must deal with so different from what she is used to that she begins to see them as unreal.  She thinks of the policeman at one point as:

...just a member of the cast of a very weird play she had found herself wrapped up in.

And of Italy and Italians:

...a fairy tale place with fairy tale people.

She does notice that:

Physical contact in Italy, just as on the ship, was inevitable.

And she was:

...impressed with the small touches of class that seemed to permeate every aspect of this intriguing society.

She learns quickly to love the Italian language.

The melodious language wrapped itself around her heart and touched her soul in a way that felt like...home.

The construction of the book is solid, the characters okay, the prose style fine, a third-person limited in Samantha's head.  There are too many typos, however.  54 by my count, and I sent a list of them to the author, but they have yet to be fixed.  The momentum of the story dips a bit when the couple moves to the man's vineyard.  

Yes, the police chief's family has a vineyard, and I know that has been done too much in these sorts of books.  But what can I say?  Vineyards are nice.   

The story picks up again after the vineyard scenes and has a very satisfying last third and a wonderful ending.

The best parts of the book for me were when the author stuck to her specialty:  the Navy and boats.  The author is retired from the U.S. Navy, so when she writes about her protagonist's life aboard the crowded ship, everything rings true, and brings us into a world that one rarely sees in this genre novel.  Here is the author on the close quarters of ship-board living:

She often thought moving around on the ships was like the old pocket puzzle game she had played as a child, sliding one square up to move another over.

The title of the book is very clever; it has multiple meanings, one of which is the raising of the U.S. flag by the service members in the morning, and saluting it, called raising the morning colors.  The other meaning I will leave to the reader to discover.  Along with Samantha's back-story, it is interesting and unique and actually quite believable.

From the book's description:

Beautiful and driven Navy Chief Samantha Logan is at a decision point in her career and her life.

Her unexpected and somewhat reluctant arrival in a magical foreign sea port promises a week-long break for some long overdue rest and relaxation. Her plans are shattered from the moment she sets foot on the pier in Venice.  A crime committed within arms reach leaves her fighting to save a life, save herself and her reputation.  An instant of violence, will sweep her into the center of a storm of espionage, intrigue and fear.

Her already uncertain future is complicated by the handsome Chief of the Carbinieri police.  They are joined in a struggle which forces her face to face with her own fears, her indecision and the pain of her shattered past.  Samantha will have to fight to survive, draw on every bit of her intellect, training and experience if she is to overcome the harrowing events to come.

Here is the link to the book at Amazon.com:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Mina's Adventures Series by Maria Grazia Swan

 

In this richly imagined series, set in the recent past, Mina Calvi, an Italian-born woman, an immigrant to The United States, has to deal with some overwhelming events.  Her self-deprecating humor and her friends, loyal to the occasionally clueless young woman, help her survive.

 The author has made Mina a refreshingly realistic young woman.  Not a silly, kick-ass, one-dimensional character favored by so many publishers these days, Mina is a young woman who has yet to find her place in life.  She is moderately educated, foreign to many American ways, gullible, and has a wonderful sense of the ridiculous.

Here is a beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Mina's Adventures series:

The Mina Calvi books are not quick, one-day reads, about one-dimensional characters playacting to formulaic conventions.  The books are entertainingly realistic romantic-adventure stories, with mystery and suspense, featuring a complex, growing character, who reacts with realistic human strength and weakness to her unusual situations. 

Mina's humor is a real plus to this traditionally written, third-person narrated, romantic-adventure series.  Her unpredictable reactions bring a spontaneity to the story, keeping us guessing about what will happen next, and what Mina will do or say next.

I have read and enjoyed all the books in The Mina's Adventures Series:

1. Love Thy Sister
2. Bosom Bodies
3. Italian Summer
4. Ashes of Autumn
5. A Cat to Die For

Love Thy Sister - Book One

Love Thy Sister, set in 1989, introduces us to Mina, a young woman with a sharp sense of humor, and a playful, direct, spontaneous, even flighty character.

She had been barely sixteen with little knowledge of English when she had arrived in Southern California.

She was almost twenty-three and although older, as the saying goes, she wasn't much wiser.

Ideas, the one thing she had abbondanza of.  And dreams, yes, dreams, too.

We learn that Mina grew up in Italy's Veneto region, and her evocative memories of her life there ring true.  Also ringing true are Mina's favorite American discoveries, treats like milk shakes, doughnuts, muffins, cereal, and delicious peanut butter.

We follow the events through Mina's eyes, being confused with her, getting only small pieces of information at a time, and having to piece them together.

There is lots of fun banter between Mina and her sister, Paola, at the beginning of the book.  Being California, there is lots of driving around throughout the book.  And at the end of the book, all the loose ends are tied up nicely.

Bosom Bodies - Book Two

We pick up Mina's life over one year later in Bosom Bodies.  The author quickly catches us up on Mina's history, and reacquaints us with Mina's appreciation of American quirks, and with Mina's self-deprecating sense of humor.

Mina walked around her car and, sure enough, it was the front tire, passenger side-as flat as her chest beneath the padding.

But after the events of the first book, Mina has grown into a bored, lonely, lost soul, a young woman who has prematurely had to face the darker aspects of the world.  In Bosom Bodies, Mina is once again caught up in adventures she only half understands.  Bit by bit, the pieces fall into place.

A new man enters Mina's life in this second book, and he returns in the third and fourth books in the series:  Diego.  Shunning the stereotypical, cookie-cutter men who populate so many books these days, and grace their covers, the author creates in Diego a realistic man. 

Diego is not six-foot-plus with a chiseled jaw, blond hair, a cool character, and a propensity for losing his shirt, exposing his six-pack.  Diego is average to below-average height with dark coloring and heavy features.  He is observant, agile, witty, sly, secretive, deceptive, and an ever-present force in Mina's turbulent life.  Diego is one more thing:

The man was more temperamental than she was.  Not an easy feat.

Mina feels a primal connection with Diego, a link that goes to her soul.  But the man:

...scared and fascinated her at the same time...

Mina has a knack for finding herself in odd situations, often.  Her unpredictable nature means that no matter how attentive her loyal friends are, Mina will, entertainingly, manage to mess up their plans to keep her safe.

All the loose ends of the mystery are tied up in the end, but the Diego story continues to the next book in the series, Italian Summer.

 

Italian Summer - Book Three

The author quickly brings the reader up to speed with the events of the previous books in the series, so I would advise readers to read the books in sequence, to avoid spoilers.

Two years after the end of the previous book, Mina returns to her native Italy for a summer vacation.  Not having been there, in the Veneto region, since she was sixteen, Mina must rediscover many facets of Italy's culture all over again, or for the first time, as an adult.

After her many adventures in the first two books in the series, Mina's naturally boisterous character has been subdued.  She is shyer, more reserved than before, and something of a loner.  Her few loyal friends in The States are often on her mind, her anchor to the tenuous life she has built for herself in America. 

Mina is also painfully, dangerously insecure now.  Her insecurity and inexperience with men gave me my biggest upset while reading Italian Summer.  Her credulity and her un-safe sex habits had me cringing.

Small town life in northern Italy is not a good fit for Mina, a young woman who is by now more American than Italian.  She goes about casually dressed, talking to strangers, accepting dates with near strangers, and not understanding even the basics like how to do her shopping.  At one point, Mina wonders:

Maybe she should change her return flight and get the hell out of there [Italy], go back to California.  That was her real home now.  She had to come all the way here to find that out?The author gives Mina a mother-figure in Italian Summer, who is a lovely addition to the story, and who gives Mina a chance to learn a bit more about her own past.

The story is wrapped up at the end, and Mina returns to California, where her next adventure happens only a few months later.  

Ashes of Autumn  - Book 4

The writer of this engaging romantic suspense series keeps us guessing about Mina's fate, and the fate of her odd relationship with Diego, whom Mina met in Book 2.  Diego was in Mina's life in Book 3, also. 

Mina, a young woman who has faced more heartache than most young women, has a secret lover in Book 4.  Diego's unusual and dangerous profession means that he is not allowed to have any lovers, so he must keep Mina a secret.  Mina is besotted with Diego:

Anything and everything made her think about him.  He was so much a part of her, embedded in her soul.

But then things go wrong, and Diego's dangerous life rubs off on Mina's life, and on Mina's friends' lives.

Mina Calvi remains the same Italian immigrant to America who is in love with American expressions and some American foods, like peanut butter.  She is also full of questions, always, seeking to understand her new world and new culture, and the odd things that she becomes involved with.  Her friends know her well:

Oh, here we go, firing questions right and left.  I sort of missed that part.

As with all the Mina books, there is a very strong sense of place, with restaurants, highways and other landmarks mentioned in the book that is set in Southern California.  Mina's unpredictable life finds her unintentionally entering into dangerous adventures.  So far she has survived, but her heart is another matter.

A Cat to Die For  -  Book 5

From the book's description:  Mina Calvi's new Furry Friends Foundation is a dream come true for the formerly footloose young woman. Her no-kill shelter rescues and places dogs and cats into new forever homes, and it gives Mina a purpose in life.

But changes are looming on a perfect Sunday afternoon at the Dana Point Marina where she is minding the adoption booth.

A Greek heiress, young, petite and beautiful, shows up on the arm of the love of Mina's life, Diego Moran. And worse, she wants to adopt Mina's calico cat, Houdini. The spoiled woman will not take no for an answer. Why is she so insistent on getting Houdini when she already owns a look-alike cat?

When Houdini is cat-napped, the cat-sitter murdered, and the ransom demand sent to the heiress, Mina has to keep her wits about her to get her beloved cat home safely, and to keep her heart from getting broken again by Diego, who inexplicably pops up at every turn of the unfolding drama.

Here are direct links to the Mina's Adventure Series books at Amazon.com:

The author has another mystery series that features an Italian immigrant to the U.S., The Lella York Mysteries Series.  I have a review of the first book in the series on this site:  Murder Under the Italian Moon
And my review of the second book in the series is here, too:  Death Under the Venice Moon.

Here is a beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Lella York Mysteries series:

Please visit the author's website and Facebook Page.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.