Middle Sister's October Reads

It was an unbelievably warm October, with cooler nights finally establishing themselves by Halloween,  

Murder in an Italian Cafe by Michael Falco This was the first in the Bria Bartolucci series that I have read, but Mr. Falco does a good job on catching new readers up on who our protagonist is and her past experience with investigating a mystery. Bria and her son live in Positano, Italy, where she runs a bed and breakfast. The details of the town and the setting were lovely and atmospheric and immerse the reader in a small tourist town on the Amalfi Coast. The cast of secondary characters is quite large: Bria's parents, her mother-in-law, the policeman she is very attracted to, the general manager of her inn whom she is also attracted to, her friends, a nun at her son's school--and I haven't even introduced the suspects and the victim yet. Bria's friend who own a cafe is delighted to host the filming of a cooking show, hopeful that the free publicity will help hers and the other local businesses. But no one expects good publicity when the chef dies live on air. There are a lot of characters with separate storylines, and many don't have an obvious connection to the victim. The way author weaves them in at times seemed a little farfetched and coincidental. This was, in my opinion, a passable read. It didn't leave me on tenterhooks wondering who the killer was (I found that fairly easy to guess), and everyone's physical beauty and the money the main characters seem to have was a little off-putting for this reader. Others may find escaping into that world relaxing and the perfect fantasy. I'm giving this a grade of C+/B-. (Net Galley)

Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham  Another read for the Summer of Mystery knit along hosted by Kate Davies Designs. This book was incredibly atmospheric. If you love swirling, thick fogs and dense local accents, you'll love this one. The book group was tracking how Albert Campion changes over the series, and this post-war book has an Albert that is more world-weary and jaded than pre-war Albert, a perfect metaphor for many people and societies in real life. The premise of the book is in some ways similar to earlier Allinghams, with a treasure that is being sought by several different people, but it diverges in the depiction of a criminal that is descried by Canon Avril as truly evil. His actions were very awful and I, Gentle Reader, am easily scared so I found him very frightening indeed. I've always enjoyed Campion and Allingham novels, and reading this with folks in England who can describe some of the dated references has made them even more enjoyable. Readers of historical mysteries and English mysteries will enjoy this novel. A+