NONNA MARIA AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING BRIDE

5 stars out of 5

By some of my standard measures, this could have been a book that just didn't "grab" me (that the heroine is a meddling old lady living on an island off the coast of Naples, Italy, rang more of a warning bell than a come-and-get-it). On the other hand, I've read and absolutely loved several books by this wonderful author, so I forged ahead. And guess what? I didn't stop until I'd polished it off in a single day (well, I stayed up an extra half-hour at bedtime, but hey...)

When it came to summing it all up, though, I was at first at a loss for words. So I started by doing something I never do - reading comments by other authors (mostly because I always suspect they're nothing more than reciprocal "fluff" than real observations made after actually reading the book). That is, until I read an assessment by another favorite author - Tess Gerritsen - and the lightbulb went on. "Utterly delightful," she said. "One of the most charming amateur sleuths ever created," she continued.

"I couldn't have said it better, so I'm stealing her words," I said.

Now, on to the story in my words: The title character (and she truly is a character) is Nonna Maria, a 25-year widow in her 70s whose love of cooking for anyone who walks through her door is exceeded only by her love of helping her family, friends and neighbors when something goes wrong. She's got all the inside scoops, gossip-wise, so nothing gets past her; everyone on the island of Ischia knows where to go first when they have a problem. At the very least, they'll leave with full stomachs - everything washed down by Nonna Maria's special coffee (she personally won't drink anyone else's) or, more likely, a few glasses of wine.

As the story begins, she gets a visit by Anna, a young woman who claims to have been somehow coerced into agreeing to marry a man she really doesn't love; she suspects he may have ulterior motives. Recalling legends of similar incidents in years past, Nonna Maria has suspicions of her own - and agrees to help. First, though, she contacts her carabinieri friend Captain Murino, who has long "put up with" Nonna Maria's interferences simply because her heart is in the right place (and the fact that she's almost always right). 

Another case rears a possible ugly head when an elderly tour boat captain appears to have drunk himself into a stupor, fallen overboard and drowned. Murino is investigating and on the verge of declaring it an accident, but Nonna Maria is certain it was no accident; no matter how inebriated he was, she insists, he never, ever would have drowned. And as she shares with him her opinions as well as details of Anna's situation, it appears the good Captain just have have a good reason to investigate her fiance as well.

Their interaction is professional, but the charisma between the two is downright charming - prompting me to turn the pages as fast as I could just to get to what happens next. In between the action are enticing, intricate descriptions of the island, its rich history and not-so-wealthy people. Everything works out in the end, of course, but you'll just have to read the book to get the details. Please do - I don't think you'll be sorry. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review another book by a favorite author. Grazie di cuore!

Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Bantam, May 2022); 263 pp.

PLAYING WITH FIRE

5 stars out of 5


Riveting. Haunting. Poignant. Disturbing. Enlightening. So did I enjoy this book? The answer is absolutely, but not in the usual sense; the official description reveals very little about the real story between the pages (to put it another way, Rizzoli and Isles it ain't). As other readers have noted in their reviews, the content came as a surprise - but for me, it was a difficult book to put down. Thankfully, it's short enough that I was able to finish it in one day. 

The thriller element is here, of course, but it plays second fiddle (pun intended) to a story of how the Holocaust played out in Italy beginning in the late 1930s. It begins when violinist Julia Ansdell, mother of 3-year-old Julia, is in Rome for a performance and visits an antique shop to look for old music to add to her collection. She finds what she's looking for - a book - and falling from between the pages is a real treasure: a handwritten waltz titled Incendio (fire). As a musician, she recognizes immediately the potential beauty and emotional impact of the piece, so she buys it and takes it home to Boston.

There, the fire soon threatens to consume her entire world; when she first tries to play the composition, it appears to transform her young daughter - but in a terrible way. Her husband and sister, though, suspect it's Julia who's changed; her late mother had a history of mental illness, after all. But even though she worries that they're right, Julia remains convinced that there's something evil in the music - so she sneaks away from her husband Rob and daughter and sets out to learn its history.

Her destination is Venice, where she meets up with her friend, a cellist in whom Julia has confided her concerns about her daughter's sudden tendency toward violence. There, they learn more about the composer and the dark side of the waltz's origin - and in the process put their lives in danger from those who want secrets from the past to stay hidden.

There's action and suspense as Julia tries to avoid being killed, but much of the book tells the tale of the composer - and that centers on rather graphic accounts of what happened in Italy during the Holocaust. It's a beautiful yet ugly story that's rooted in fact; in 1938, the Italian Fascist regime under Benito Mussolini enacted a number of laws restricting the Jewish population, and from that point on, life as a Jew in Italy turned horrific to say the least. Bringing that history to life and honoring those who were "heroes" is, the author says, a major reason for writing the book.

When I finished, I had a few questions about Julia's part of the story that I wish had been answered, but in the end they really don't matter much. Suffice it to say this book grabbed me at the beginning, and I expect it will be a while before it totally releases its grip on my mind.

Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books, October 2015); 273 pp.