I tried to read this quite a few times....and I just couldn't get into it.
I'm not sure if it was because it was a sequel. I saw the title and cover and thought I'm going to love this book...I love absolutely everything about Venice...I am fascinated by San Michele and the title was great but from the opening paragraph I just couldn't connect with the book or the characters at all.

I made it to the end...but took a while and several attempts. I can see its a good book...just the style and characters didn't suit me so please do not be put off by my review as the author is clearly very talented and just because it didn't gel with me personally doesn't mean it won't with others.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For Nathan Sutherland, Honorary British Consol in Venice, All Souls Day is a time to respect the dead of the city. However, when an empty coffin is discovered in the Anglican part of the cemetery Nathan is plunged into a mystery involving a rich Venetian family and a decades old tragedy. When a British journalist disappears and a young tourist is found dead Nathan realises that there is more to the story than first imagined.
This is my first time reading one of Jones' Venice-set novels and I really enjoyed this one. Partly because I love Venice, partly because it is a not too demanding thriller and mainly because of the heavy dose of humour that pervades.

I voluntarily read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

This is part of a series which I didn't realise and must now catch up with the rest!
Really enjoyed this

Lots of twists and turns and was truly surprised by the ending which was fantastic - loved the surprise !!

Loved the characters - they were very well fleshed out
Set in Italy - my favourite place - Venice vividly described and really brought everything to life

A great read

Thanks to Little Brown and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m really not a crime/mystery reader. It’s mostly the same issue I have with Romance novels, they’re a fun read but I like books to stick in my mind (for good and bad reasons) and I've just never really found any crime novels that did that for me. With the possible exception of Iain Banks but I'm not sure he’d be considered a crime novelist anyway.

It was the Venice setting that drew me to request this book. Not just Venice but the inclusion of San Michele as a setting too. San Michele is the cemetery island of Venice and if you are planning a trip there, I highly recommend taking the Vaporetto out there for a relaxing stroll. Italians are second only to the French when it comes to cemetery design in my very humble opinion and it’s a really fascinating place to visit.

The rest is pretty much standard mystery novel fare. There is a mystery and someone has to solve the crime. I’m not trying to be disparaging by saying that, I just don’t want to give anything away.

The main character is Nathan, the British Honorary Consul in Venice and sometimes translator. I thought this was a quite interesting character choice instead of him being a detective or writer as seems to be usually the case. The author clearly knows Venice like the back of his hand, and it was fun as a reader to revisit places I am familiar with as I was reading. I’m not trying to be pretentious I promise, my grandmother is Venetian. The story itself is very readable and I found myself coming back to it again and again throughout the day it took me to read it, so I definitely felt as if it had that ‘hook’.

My main issue was the character of Nathan himself. I wondered if this was perhaps one of those cases where the author has written himself into the book - the prog rock mentions were a sure giveaway. There is altogether too much mentions of alcohol (seriously, I like wine as much as the next first-generation Italian, but Nathan clearly has a serious issue), coffee, cooking etc. Yes, we get it. It’s Italy but it was just too much, and it detracted from the story itself. Nathan is also one of those rather basic guys who is essentially a bit of a flake yet manages to have a terribly beautiful and clever girlfriend. I’m not sure why she puts up with him all the time because he puts his foot in it constantly and embarasses. I also guessed the twist rather quickly which is always going to ruin things a bit.

This genuinely is a fun and readable book and I think it would really appeal to people visiting Venice for the first time but I'm not sure how much seasoned crime readers would enjoy it.

I love this series and I loved this instalment.
It's a complex story full or read herring, twists, and turns with a complex mystery and solution that came as a surprise.
The cast of characters is well thought and interesting, the Venetian background is realistic and vivid.
I loved the plot that flows and I learned something new about Venice.
I also appreciated that the Italian phrases are all correct and the Italian characters are not stereotyped.
It was a gripping and entertaining read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is the 4th book in the series, yet again Nathan Sutherland is racing around Venice trying to sole the latest mystery that has come across his path.
Would highly recommend this book

Another wonderful book featuring the very endearing Nathan Sutherland and star of the show, Venice. The story starts as a gentle-paced mystery and develops into murder. As with all the books in this series, the narrative is light and good-humoured. The characters are very likeable and well-drawn. Venice itself is one of the main characters and the sense of place is so strong that you feel as though you are really there, enjoying drinks in the bars. Highly recommended.

Philip Gwynne Jones returns the reader to the charms, culture and mouthwatering cuisine of Italy and Venice with his protagonist, Nathan Sutherland, the British Honorary Consul, a unpaid voluntary role, side by side with him being a translator. Nathan has given up smoking, lives with his girlfriend, Federica, or Fede, and his cat, Gramsci, now getting alarmingly fat and considerably less irascible. It is November 2017, Nathan is at a funeral at the cemetery island of San Michele on the Day of the Dead when he is roped into the service at the English part of the Isle by friend, Father Michael Raynor, to pay respects to the dead. An accident results in the discovery of a missing boy's body from his coffin. Young Gabriele Loreden drowned back in 1980, the son of the famously wealthy and good looking celebrity, Hugo Channing, and his wife, Cosima.

The Loredans shunned publicity from that moment on, the elderly Hugo is now suffering from dementia, and cared for primarily by his daughter, Ludovica, a daddy's girl. Trying to find out what happened to Gabriele's body turns out to be a nightmare, and the local police, in the form of Vanni, prove to be of little help. Under pressure from Ambassador Maxwell, Nathan gets in touch with Victor Rutherford to glean what information he can, but records from that time are non-existent. At an intriguing gathering in which Ludovica is speaking, Nathan's interest is piqued when a journalist planning to write about the Lordecans, Guy Flemying, upsets Ludovica and gets thrown out. Whilst trying to help those who need him, such as a British tourist scammed over his accommodation, Nathan investigates, unearthing the dark past and secrets of the noble Lordecan family, whilst further murder brings great danger to him and those close to him.

What attracts me to this series is how well Jones immerses the reader in the city of Venice, its buildings, history, art and architecture, not to mention its community and social circles. It is made all the more engaging with the equal focus on developments in Nathan's life, his cooking, his social circle of friends and his relationship with Fede, not to mention his interactions with the wise, and quirky cat, Gramsci. So if you fancy spending time in Venice, which I would not recommend right now with the devastating impact of the Coronovirus crisis, I suggest the next best thing, this latest addition to this terrific series! Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of Venetian Gothic, the fourth novel to feature Honorary Consul Nathan Sutherland.

Nathan is at a church service on the Island of The Dead, San Michele, when a gravestone topples over and reveals an empty coffin, a coffin which is supposed to contain the remains of 12 year old Gabriele Loredan who drowned in 1980. As Nathan starts to investigate he realises that some people will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden.

I thoroughly enjoyed Venetian Gothic which is a light hearted mystery with an eventful plot and a scenic location. This is the first novel in the series that I have read, in fact the series has not previously crossed my radar, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised in many ways.

The novel is told in the first person from Nathan’s point of view. First person narratives can be annoying for the reader as they don’t always offer the widest perspective but in this case it is an ideal match for the novel. The plot has plenty of twists and turns but it’s not particularly broad or deep so there is no need of a greater perspective and Nathan’s deft touch as a narrator keeps the tone breezy and fun. He is fairly settled in Venice so he has a good grasp of the language, customs and cuisine and there are lots of little snippets of Venetian life to keep the novel interesting. He is fairly clumsy verbally so spends a lot of time saying sorry. This adds to his appeal and implies a certain ineptitude which is not quite right as there is the ability to think smartly lurking in his depths. He also has a surface lightheartedness that belies an inner dedication to what is right. He presents as a stereotypical Brit but is more serious underneath.

I’m not sure how to explain this but the novel has an old fashioned feel to it, albeit one peppered with modern idioms and habits. I especially enjoyed his relationship with his girlfriend, Federica, who is very obviously the boss. Nevertheless, the idea of the amateur sleuth, the concentrated plot, i.e. no subplot and no deviations and the single point of view are more old than new. I think it’s great as it makes it a novel you can sink your teeth in to and concentrate on.

Venetian Gothic is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.