Blog Archive

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Murder in Verona by T.A. Williams - Book Review - Blog Tour

Series: Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mysteries #9

Publication Date: 03rd Nov 2024

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/murderinverona

Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215966823-murder-in-verona

Genre: Cozy Mystery

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Fun!

Book Blurb:

A tragic accident?

When Italy’s greatest opera singer, Rodolfo Argento, is killed in a terrible car accident, the police initially ruled his death a tragic accident or suicide. But his elderly mother, Violetta, believes this to be poppycock! Her son was a brilliant driver and had too much to live for. She suspects foul play and turns to Private Investigator, Dan Armstrong to discover the truth.

A cheating spouse?

So Dan and Oscar travel to Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, to find out what really happened. There, Dan discovers Rodolfo’s private life could have come straight out of a Shakespeare play. Although now happily married, Rodolfo was a man with a reputation to rival Casanova, his past strewn with heartbroken women. Could his death have been a star-crossed lover determined to get revenge?

A family feud?

Or does the truth lie much closer to home? With his large inheritance still to be settled, the motive for Rodolfo’s murder could simply be greed. As Dan searches for suspects while staying at the Argento Opera Academy (where people randomly launch into operatic arias) life for Dan is complicated by the fact that Oscar has a habit of joining in with the singing…

Can Dan solve the case before he and his tone-deaf dog get thrown out?

***

My Thoughts:

The story comes in Dan’s first-person POV.

The ninth book in the series works as a standalone (and so do the previous books). However, you will enjoy it more if you read at least one of the earlier books.

This time, Dan and Oscar, along with Anna, go to Verona to enjoy an opera show and solve a crime. Dan is not a fan of opera nor does he know anything about it. Will he be a convert by the end of the book?

Oscar meets another black Lab, Elektra, and falls in love. Of course, he still has his priorities right – food comes first; always!

The mystery is decent but doesn’t have the same tension as some of the previous ones. Of course, each case is different, so we can’t really compare. This one is on the slower side with a lot of questioning and trying to find the clues (makes sense since the death occurred almost a month prior).

However, it took me a while to guess the killer, so that’s good. I was weighing my options when a certain detail made me wonder and connect the dots.

As always, we get a tour of the region, though this time, it’s not much. Dan spends his time on the case, so there isn’t much left for exploring. But… there is enough food and gelato to make you happy!

A few interesting themes are addressed using the plot and the characters. While there are quite a few suspects/ characters involved, it is easy to track them. Some of them have strong personalities.

To summarize, Murder in Verona is another entertaining installment in the series and might appeal even more to opera fans (as it mentions quite a few leading singers and tracks).

Thank you, Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley

***

About the Author – T.A. Williams

I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely writing romance and whodunnits. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time. Life isn’t always very fair. It isn’t always a lot of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. Murder mystery is all very well, but it needs to put a smile on your face, so that's why I like to inject some humour.

Follow the Author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/TAWilliamsBooks

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/TAWilliamsNews

Bookbub Profile: @trevorwilliams3

***

This has been a stop on the #MurderInVerona blog tour by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by! 


No comments:

Post a Comment