Samantha Kidd heads off to sunny Italy for another Killer Fashion Mystery. She has come a long way from her beginnings with Designer Dirty Laundry, via giant stores and shoe departments. Now she experiences MURDER ITALIAN STYLE.

Every book about Italy outside the big cities emphasises the beautiful scenery, fresh foods and tasty treats including wines, gelato and olives. The downside is that little money trickles down to rural areas, and people live in homes that have not changed in hundreds of years. Monica Lombardi and her daughter Isabella have invited Diane, her Italian-American husband Nick Taylor, and Nick’s father Nick Sr. to stay at their villa in Monza, four hours from Rome. The big house is elegant itself, with rows of olive trees, but the village has narrow cobbled streets and a local prison.

Samantha learns that Pasquale, a young shoemaker, was arrested for a murder that he denies committing, twenty-six years previously. He and Isabella had an understanding, but she had to go to Switzerland for urgent medical treatment. The murder of Alfredo was investigated only briefly, as the man seems to have been unpopular, but no other suspect was found so Pasquale, who had been seen arguing with Alfredo, was jailed. Samantha is asked to help resolve the cold case.

With helpings of pizza and gelato, a sparky little girl called Chiara, a gruff retired lawman called Rocco di Genova, and her shoe designer husband, Samantha can enjoy her vacation but is in danger of serious harm if anyone realises she is overturning stones. Because if Pasquale didn’t commit the murder, somebody else did, who may still live in the village. 

Unlike police procedural stories, an amateur sleuth who is constantly falling over bodies can get a bad name for this activity. Taking the person away from their normal surroundings is a great way to counter this issue. The cold case emphasises that Samantha isn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. We see modern methods sit beside tradition.

I recently read another in this series called Slay Ride, which revealed the methods used to publicise brands and products on social media. Diane Vallere uses her heroines to show us the inside track of fashion and the manipulation of the public, just as someone appears to have manipulated the truth about MURDER ITALIAN STYLE.