The Road to Murder by Camilla Trinchieri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nico Doyle returns in the fourth book in the Tuscan Mystery series, The Road to Murder. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Nico is still busy helping in his wife's family's restaurant, creating new dishes for them to try and sell in the restaurant, and visiting with his friends at the cafe each day. His friend, Perillo, in the carabinieri, has a new murder case: a woman found slumped over her piano and an English-speaking house guest who was present in the house during the murder but did not hear anything from her guest room. Nico is needed for translating and of course, pitching in where he can with solving the crime. The victim, Nora, has two daughters, Clara and Adriana, and a son-in-law, two of whom seem to care more about Nora's money and home than they do about her being murdered.

The Road to Murder is a welcome addition to the Tuscan Mystery series, providing that much-loved armchair travel experience to my beloved Italy. I recognize so many things described about "Gravigna" in the books as they seem familiar even though they use a town name that does not exist in Italy, at least not with that spelling. Still, the descriptions of Gravigna do exist in reality in so many towns throughout Italy. The food, people, and town are vivid, colorful, and well-described like other characters in the book. The mystery is original in how it progresses, and the new characters introduced as part of it are also well-developed. They keep their secrets well until they are forced to release them. The relationships between the repeat characters in the book grow and change and draw the reader into their stories. I am really looking forward to the next book.

The Traitor by Ava Glass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a phenomenal follow-up to the already great start to this new series, Alias Emma. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was so excited when I found out that the Emma Makepeace books were a series. I absolutely loved Alias Emma and did not hesitate to drop all other books to jump into The Traitor by Ava Glass. Emma is on to a new assignment after she is called to a murder scene where an analyst for their agency has been brutally murdered. Emma has the background that makes her a perfect fit to be inserted onto the yacht of the Russian Oligarch who appears to be involved. The murdered agent appears to have been investigating the sale of illegal weapons, but Emma is kitted out to fit into her role and heads to France to begin her new assignment.

Ava Glass has done a wonderful job setting the scene and giving the reader a bit of armchair travel in the Riviera, which was phenomenal since I have wanted to visit this region and plan to in the next couple of years. We meet some of the other agents for the "agency" that Emma works for, along with some of the partners they have recruited along the way. The Traitor continues to show Emma's tenacity and grit even when she is outmanned, outgunned, and outmaneuvered. She plays by the rules but, manages to still find a way to stand up against impossible odds. I always wonder how police organizations in the UK manage to equally go against villains with firearms and other deadly weapons with no deadly weapons of their own. How does an agent who doesn't carry a firearm stand against ruthless mobsters who not only carry but are quite violent? When thinking about Emma Makepeace, ingenuity, cunning, and a bit of her own ruthlessness. I really look forward to the next installment in this series! View all my reviews