Nell Valenti is at ease when managing a farm to table cooking school in sun-dappled Tuscany, but begins to feel the heat when tasked with catching a killer, in this engaging Italian-set cozy mystery series.
When a wealthy New York philanthropist pays top dollar for a private, four-day ziti workshop, Nell Valenti wants everyone at the Orlandini cooking school focused on the task at hand. But complications abound when Nell's boyfriend Pete Orlandini rushes to Rome for an unexpected business trip, Chef Orlandini is more preoccupied with a potential spot on an American cooking show than preparing for the workshop, and an uninvited woman sneaks into the villa to inspect Pete's olive grove. The last disturbance proves deadly, and when the woman's body is found in the grove, Nell must investigate before her hopes for the workshop, like the olives, are crushed.
Nell now has another item on her checklist--keep the Orlandinis out of trouble and the wealthy ziti-lovers happy while she looks into the stranger's past. When Nell discovers that for one of the Orlandinis, at least, the murder victim was not such a stranger after all, she'll learn that when a detective goes digging in Italy, she'd better be ready for truffle.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rteqN2
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57926107-evil-under-the-tuscan-sun
ASIN: B093YQKMY3
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
Print Length: 300 pages
My Review and Rating:
Evil Under the Tuscan Sun by Stephanie ColeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Orlandini Cooking School is off to a bright start. Word has spread and a wealthy New York philanthropist books the school for a ziti workshop. Four days of private pasta and marinara classes with Nell at the helm. Pete is off to Rome on business and Chef is too busy preparing to possibly win a spot on a cooking show. Organizing the workshop takes an interesting turn when strangers appear in Pete’s olive grove, and one of the strangers is found dead on Orlandini property.
Evil Under the Tuscan Sun is the third book in the Tuscan Cooking School Mystery series by Stephanie Cole. The book was an engaging story with likable characters and a believable mystery. Nell is a hard-working American employed at the Orlandini culinary school in Italy. Nell is written with realism and her interactions with everyone fit the way a professional in a less-than-perfect situation would act.
The mysterious death of a woman found on Orlandini property was well thought out. The suspects were plenty, even if unlikely and/or not plausible. The lead up to and reveal of the murderer, along with the means and motive, were plotted well. I enjoyed the additional storylines threaded through the murder mystery.
There was plentiful character development and wonderful world building. I was able to visualize every element of the story including the mouth-watering recipes. I'm excited to see what happens at Villa Orlandini in the next book.
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