Dark Dante

I received a copy of this title from the publisher for an honest review. 2.75 stars rounded up to 3. I really wanted to rate this book higher as the premise sounded really exciting, but there was just something missing from the story that holds me back. Set in 2020, the story features Maria who travels from England to Florence upon the murder of her uncle who she had never met. She is surprised to learn that he left her an inheritance; his close friends and long term partner seem resentful of her windfall at what they perceive to be their expense.

Maria decides to try and solve the murder after the police seem stymied. Soon, additional murders occur and figuring out the murder's identity becomes even more important. I had a couple of issues that held back my rating even though the murders's identity was nicely done. First, I don't feel like I got to know Maria well enough; she never felt fully fleshed out. Second, I was expecting the Dante connection to be more prominent to the mystery than it was. Third, I think the mystery around the falling out Peter had with his family took too much time away from the murder mystery. I did like a ot of the book and would read another title from the author to see how she grew from this one to the next.

I recently read The Divine Comedy and so I found this book really interesting, it is such a greatr and unique premise that had me on the edge of my seat and wondering what would happen next. A great read

Some fascinating and clever references to Dante and his Inferno in this interesting book. The story itself is good with some great characters, although I think the pace was a little bit slow.

I was eager to read this book as the plot interested me. Murder, Florence and Dante, a theatre producer based in Manchester gets a call from Florence telling her that her uncle has been murdered. What then ensues is a journey to Italy and the Tuscan region trying to figure out more about the uncle she never knew and the person who did it.
Having read through the book I was a little disappointed, the plot I believe was weakened due to the characters not being as fully developed as well as the connections and situations around events that follow lacking a bit of depth. In stories like this I tend to like being drawn into the sights and sounds and immersed into the world but all too often I found that I couldn't get there, sometimes due to the chapters being short or other times a conversation or particular scene not fully being played out. I also found some sections repetitive. However on the plus side, the historical references to Dante and the leisurely pace of the book made this a book, you could just pick up and read casually.