Review: Cozy murder mystery with romance and humor set in beautiful Florence, Italy - Fun bunch of eccentrics
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2014
Delayed Death is Book #1 in the Temptation in Florence Series, a cozy murder mystery romance series with a strong dose of humor.  The title of the series comes from the lingerie store that the protagonist, Carlina, owns and runs, Temptation, on one of Florence, Italy's, premier shopping streets.The Temptation in Florence Series follows the life, adventures and loves of Italian-American Carlina, and of her extended eccentric Italian family, many of whom live in apartments in the same building in central Florence as Carlina and her mother.  Carlina's U.S. American father passed away when Carlina was in her teens, after which her Italian mother moved back to Italy with Carlina and her two siblings.The mixed heritage shows in Carlina's unusual sense of humor that has a rich sense of the absurd.  She is also lacking in ego, which makes Carlina something of a willing doormat for her strong-willed relations.  The family's eccentric members and their whims and wishes are a never-ending source of amusement for Carlina.  While often treated like the family's Cinderella, Carlina is also a sexy, saucy, funny thirty-two-year-old woman.When a crisis occurs, right at the beginning of Delayed Death, and Carlina gives in to her domineering cousin's wishes, Carlina sets herself on a collision course with police Commissario Stefano Garini.The English in Delayed Death is easy to read and well-edited.  The cover is very eye-catching, as are the covers of each book in the series.  There are interesting contrasting characters, lovely Florentine locations, gentle humor, and an entertaining possible love match that rings true.The story builds nicely and keeps the action varied with enjoyable interplay between the oddball characters, and especially between Carlina and Stefano.  The Temptation lingerie shop offers lots of opportunity for laughs, among the panties, bras and thongs.My only reservation is the abrupt ending.  I wanted to hear from the killer how the killings were done and why they were committed.  The love-story felt unresolved, too, at the end.  Perhaps the author wanted to leave that for the next book in the series?  I'll have to read them to find out.Please read my full review at my Italophile Book Reviews site:http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot.nl/2014/04/delayed-death-by-beate-boeker.html