Murder in Florence is the third Armstrong and Oscar cozy destination mystery by T.A. Williams. Released 7th April 2023 by Boldwood books, it's 267 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also currently available on KU.
This is a beautifully descriptive and well written destination mystery set in Tuscany. Expat former policeman Dan Armstrong and his trusty canine sidekick Oscar are asked to help investigate a spate of attacks and accidents on the set of a movie in production in the area. Dan's ostensibly along to facilitate translations in English for the police and witnesses, but his insights are valuable and he and the lead detective have a good rapport and friendship.
The plotting
is solid and the dialogue and characterizations are wonderfully rendered and
believable. The mystery, denouement, and resolution are self contained
in this volume, so it works well enough as a standalone, but the writing
and mystery are so well planned and executed, that it would make an
excellent weekend binge or buddy read. There are currently 4 books available. The scenery, characterizations, and mystery are consistently high quality and complex enough that it would also make a fine selection for a mystery book club discussion.
It's not derivative at all, but it reminded me in a lot of good ways of Leon's exceptional Brunetti books as well as Walker's lovely Bruno, chief of police books. Fans of those authors will find a lot to enjoy here.
Four and a half stars. Highly recommended.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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