An Enigma by the Sea

"Doyens of the Italian detective story, Fruttero and Lucentini, offer a perfect blend of the comedy of manners and the macabre; in short, very Mediterranean mysteries." Tim Parks, author of Hotel Milano and Italian Life In an exclusive resort on the Tuscan coast, the wealthy elite gather at their luxurious second homes for Christmas. Amid this frosty holiday idyll, a husband and wife vanish from their heavily guarded villa, and the body of Count Delaude, a dubious aristocrat, washes up on the shore, battered to death. The ensemble cast brims with intrigue: The count, a sponger and a sham had arrived under cover of dark with a beautiful young woman scheming to be a top model. Two comedians seclude themselves as they try to overcome a writing block. One depressive, Signor Monforti, a retired academic, tries to woo a beautiful divorcee, while another, a woman this time, prepares to leave her husband. Two elderly spinsters and their Filipina maid are aghast at the awful predictions of their Tarot pack. With the local police floundering, it falls to Monforti to unravel the mystery, triumphing as an amateur detective. "A sophisticated thriller--consistently funny. These are superbly deadpan observers of humanity." Literary Review The Lover of No Fixed Abode in the same series was selected by Tracy Chevalier for the WSJ as first among the five best books on Venice: "...distinctive, eccentric, seductive." John Powers on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross - calls Lover of No Fixed Abode his favorite mystery novel of the year.