"An intriguing and intricately plotted murder mystery with a fascinating cast, set in Tuscany during the Christmas period."
If you love a tricky, layered, character driven crime novel, with echoes of a locked room mystery then step right up. When a husband and wife go missing, and a man is found murdered, one of the residents of the seaside complex begins to solve the puzzle. This was originally published in Italy during 1991, the author team of Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini have also had The Lover of No Fixed Abode and Runaway Horses translated by Gregory Dowling and he steps up to the mark again. The location sits on the Tuscan coast in a gated community, which differs from the previous two novels where Venice and Sienna starred in their own right. This feels very different, and yet the sense of place is still significant. The large cast (including animals) are captivating, as we dip into their various melancholy, paranoia, doubt, and attention-seeking natures, the plot encourages armchair detectives to really use their grey matter. At times it almost feels as though the crime takes a backseat while the characters socialise, gossip, and read tarot cards. An Enigma by the Sea is a compelling and intriguing crime novel with a moody setting and fascinating cast.
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
On the wintry Tuscan coast, the wealthy elite retreat to their lavish holiday homes. But the season turns sinister when a couple vanishes from a locked villa, and the body of a disreputable count washes ashore, bludgeoned to death. With echoes of Agatha Christie and the erudite suspense of Umberto Eco (or it could be White Lotus taking on the Berlusconi era) this richly atmospheric mystery unfolds among an ensemble of eccentrics: a fraudulent aristocrat and his beautiful companion; a melancholic academic and the woman he adores; two elderly single ladies consulting ominous Tarot cards. With the local police floundering, it falls to the brooding Signor Monforti to unravel the mystery, triumphing as an amateur detective.
An Enigma By the Sea features in the following genres: eBooks of the Month, Recommendations, Crime and Mystery, Fiction in translation, Crime and Mystery, Fiction, Crime and mystery: hard-boiled crime, noir fiction, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss
An Enigma By the Sea is available in Paperback
An Enigma By the Sea was written by Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini and published by Bitter Lemon Press
An Enigma By the Sea has 416 pages
£9.89
