The Summer House

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A thrilling read - atmospheric, intriguing and really exciting - Rated
I found this book at a villa we rented in Italy and once opened, I could not put it down.

This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by Italy and enjoys a tightly plotted thriller packed with careful detail and deft characterisation. Kent shows a real love of her subject and has great insight into the workings of Genovese life. The Summer House will delight and satisfy anyone who has visits Italy and wants to probe beneath the surface of this most beguiling of cultures.

Highly recommended.

AN IRRESISTIBLY DARK TALE OF MURDER ON THE ITALIAN RIVIERA - Rated
Anna-Maria Villemartin had taken the train. Commissario Leo Cirri knew this much because her train ticket had been found. A young girl, travelling from Genova to Levanto in the early hours of the morning. Cirri pictured a half empty train, ill lit, the travellers dozing against their backpacks, the odd homeless person, the strangers, African Traders and an array of more sinister looking characters, travelling through the night. Had she met someone or was she on her way to meet an acquaintance? Why was she on that train at all, had she missed another connection? Between the time of leaving Genova and before Levanto, one thing Cirri knew - Anne-Maria Villemartin got off that train, she was dead - Murdered.

Rose Fell has had a whole year of emotional turmoil. With a messy divorce behind her, suddenly London Life is bearing down hard and it's time for action.

Rose decides it's time to cut ties, a change of direction - after all she was a writer and a writer could write anywhere and some new challenge is what she really needs. Rose leaves the security of her home & friends and moves to the isolated village of Grosso, near Genoa on the beautiful Italian Riviera.

Full of her own insecurities Rose sets about making a new home, had she made the right decision? However beautiful that Italian coast may look, Rose turns out to be lonelier than anticipated. Apart for a few friends (Englishman Richard Bourn - a very wealthy man and Gennaro her friendly neighbour) there was nobody she could relate to.

A phone call from London is suddenly her salvation, Rose is asked to write a piece but this time it's a profile on one of her more reclusive neighbours a - once-glamorous film star named Elvira Vitale. Elvira started out with bit-parts in films and then a central starring role as Giulia, the eponymous heroine in a Fellini Movie. More renowned for her old party circuit lifestyle (which was now over), Elvira spent her days battling phases of memory loss and dealing currently with her third husband. Londoner Jack Robbins owns a gallery in Mayfair, never carries cash and comes with his own bad habits. He is also quite the ladies man. They also have a cleaner, Ania but today Ania did not turn up for work - this is very unlike her, she would normally call.

Somewhere in the shadows - was it all their own paranoia or was someone watching over them? Everyone in this small town knew a young girl had been murdered, but what did it have to do with them? People's lives suddenly veer into one.

Fantastic Christobel Kent manipulates her descriptive style and it's simply wonderful to read, I loved it for this reason alone. Kent has used her observation of characters of people in Italy and the surrounding areas to her advantage and I found these very believable. This is the first novel I have read of hers although this is Kent's third Novel; I will be backtracking and giving the other two novels a go. This novel had the edge of excitement and stays in that flow right until the finish. Congratulations to Kent, gripping story,wonderful style.

atmospheric escapism of the most enjoyable kind - Rated
This was an impulse buy, but it is one of the most enjoyable books I have read so far this year. The author writes in a contemplative and descriptive style, which is very successful at evoking a feel of this area of Italy, and her observation of her characters is detailed and believable. The underlying plot is exciting and pulls you along inexorably toward the finish. Brilliant.