Publication Date: 03rd July 2023
Genre: Family Drama, Dual Timeline
3.5 Stars
One Liner: Fast-paced but predictable (not a mystery)
Sicily, 1968
A devastating earthquake has affected the mountain town of Gibellina. Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are driving back home to their Villa Alba del Ciliegio through the bumpy roads across the ghosted town and its ruins. When the car breaks down, Enzo sets home on foot, promising to bring help. A few hours later, he arrives on the scene to find Irene missing. No one has seen or heard of her ever since.
Sicily, Present Day
Milo Conti is a TV showman known for his love for true crime (and drama). He enjoys playing with the audiences’ minds and people’s lives by ‘solving’ cold cases and delivering verdicts on air. When Enzo becomes Milo’s next target, Maddalena, Enzo’s daughter, contacts her childhood friend for help.
Retired detective April Cobain flies to Sicily to help her friend. As she digs deeper into the case, family secrets are revealed, resulting in more confusion and chaos. With the clock ticking away, can April find out what had happened that fateful evening all those years ago?
The story comes from April’s third-person POV and Irene’s first-person POV (addressing another character in the second person).
What I Like:
When the ToC (table of contents) showed 120 chapters, I had a mini heart attack. Fortunately, the chapters are short and crisp. They result in a fast-paced narration that alters between the past and present.
The chapter placement is done very well. As April explores the Villa and learns about the Borgata family members, we see Irene’s life progressing in parallel. Though it causes some repetition, it works in the plot’s favor to help readers connect the past and present.
Irene’s POV is wonderfully done. I wasn’t sure how I’d like the second-person address, but it makes things realistic from her side. She is not a vague entity but a person full of secrets, emotions, fears, doubts, etc. The writing presents her state of mind- frantic, messy, torn, and agitated, allowing readers to see her side of the story. (There’s an awkward bit that reads off but it can’t be helped due to the chosen narrative style.)
The setting comes alive without slowing down the narrative. The summer heat in Sicily, the architecture, food, people, and especially Villa Alba (a symbol of wealth and power but, in reality, a house barely holding together) are easy to visualize.
What Could Have Been Better for Me:
I was happy almost until the last quarter that we don’t see any ‘love track’ than what’s already there. But no! It comes when I didn’t want and least expected it. Thankfully, it’s not detailed and doesn’t distract the reader from the core plot, but it is not necessary.
Though I like paranormal elements, I want them to be more than just ‘feelings’. We have quite a few references to ghosts and stuff, which go nowhere in the plot. This seems more like an attempt to create an atmosphere. It’s not necessary and only causes a distraction (I kept wondering if something will come out of it).
With the focus on the case, there isn’t much space for anything else. I couldn’t connect with April at any point. The book totally belongs to the Borgata family and their secrets. There are a lot of secrets, too (some unnecessary and abruptly rounded off at the end).
The ending is a letdown. I knew what would happen in the climax. Heck, I saw it all around 30% of the book and was prepared for it. The lack of surprise wasn’t much of an issue. But the events afterward were summed up around 5 pages and felt totally rushed. It was almost like the book had no energy left after the reveal and wanted to wrap it up as soon as possible.
Given April’s role in the book, the reveal should have come from her. What’s the use of having a detective working with another local detective if someone else takes over the climax? While April does connect a few dots, her standing on the sidelines during a crucial scene doesn’t give a good impression.
To summarize, The Secret of Villa Alba is a fast-paced novel with tried and tested plot seen in multiple books, movies, and shows. What sets it apart is Irene’s POV and the execution (until the last section). Pick it up if you want something familiar and quick.
Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #TheSecretofVillaAlba
***
P.S.: The book is listed as general fiction on NetGalley. This is the right tag, though I’d call it a family drama. Reading this as a mystery (even a cozy mystery) will result in disappointment. There isn’t any police procedural here despite April’s former profession. Once I realized this, I could adjust my expectations.
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