Book Review-Murder in Chianti By Camilla Trinchieri

I have come to love the mystery novel genre. I follow many mystery series by various authors and the nature of select mystery series has pulled me in. The genre keeps my mind fluid active without overburdening it, although the series that I like keeps my marbles lubricated and my mind in suspense.

The series that I follow, and there are quite a few of them, prominently features certain aspects of life that is particularly attracts my interest. Most are set in other countries, mostly but not exclusively European; they are set in the countryside; the story involves some details about travel,  history, art, music, and of course food, lots of food. So it is with great expectations that I started reading Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri. The copy of the paperback that I bought has a very complimentary statement from Martin Walker, the author of the Bruno, Chief of Police series. One of the authors that I follow loyally. I thought this was a good sign

This book is the first in a series of three books that Trinchieri has written featuring the main character, Nico Doyle. She has written other books outside of this series, but that I haven't read her other books.

I really wanted to like this novel. It had all the right elements to attract my attention. It is set in Italy, it had the food element, the wine making element, the relaxed and simple countryside lifestyle,  and the dreamy, easygoing nature of living in rural Italy. I felt like this was an easy entree for me. At the very beginning of the book, it was as I expected. I enjoyed being introduced to the main character, Nico Doyle. He is a widowed ex-cop who moved to his wife’s hometown in Italy. He is involved with her family: her favorite niece and her immediate  family, who operates a small restaurant. He lives by himself in a small house that used to be a warehouse for a winery. Perfect.

The pace of the story telling was soothingly slow and detailed, always a good start. But, as the story moved along at the deliberate pace, certain things that just didn't click with me. I thought she did a very nice job introducing us to the main characters,  they were all well sussed out, and she was able to get us to know them and to show us their humanity, both good and bad. The main characters that I felt were best described were the main protagonist, Nico Doyle, and the representative of the carabinieri in town, Salvatore Perillo. The rest of the characters were not so well drawn out because this is the first book in the series so we have not had time to build a history with the others.

The plotting was the main issue with that I had with this book. I didn't think the plot was very believable and I thought the murder mystery and the resolution of the mystery was lacking in facts and a cogent path which led them to their conclusion. I thought the way she handled the unraveling of the facts of the case were haphazardly done. I didn’t understand why she introduced some of the characters, unless she was planning on using them later on in the series, because they did little or no work in this book, nor did it make sense for them to be in the story other than as decoration.

I did like the way she goes into detail about lifestyles of the individuals in the village as well as the general pace and rhythm of the village. She worked hard at it, that was well written. Some of the auxiliary characters, those who would be witnesses or suspects,  are not very well drawn out but then again, they were not expected to be a lot of weight because this is the first book in the series. The rhythm and the way the story moved along just did not grip me.

I also got the sense that the author was trying to hurry the reader along with the plot, that the author did not fully develop the psychology of each of the characters.

So in summary, I felt that the plot was flat,  the buildup of the case was weak, and the big denouement, where Nico and Perillo figure out how and who of the murder was weak. The conclusion was something that came out of the left field. I felt like the author just decided to stick something in there just to finish the book because it was time to finish the book. She created something that was not even hinted at in the rest of the book.

I am at two minds about the book and series. I was expecting more from the promising premise. I am unsure about whether I wanted to read the second book. There was a 15 page teaser at the end of the this book from the second book, but it doesn't look promising, but it's only 15 pages. I may or may not commit to this series although I would like to see how the characters are developed. I do like the two main protagonists however. To be fair, some of my favorite series took three or four books to get rolling and overcome the awkwardness of the beginning.  There is hope for this yet. I am hoping so, but I am still of two minds about whether I want to commit or not.