For starters, the only reason I initially picked up this book was because the cover looked pretty cool (it's not the one pictured above. There was a gargoyle in a fountain). After reading the back though, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I didn't really find myself left guessing as to who the murder could be, but then again, the characters that were killed were either not fully developed and not a huge part of the story, OR they were not likeable, so I didn't really care what happened to them. It isn't one of those mysteries where you just "have to know" who the killer is. I would have liked to know what happened to the romance that was set up in the story (without making it a strictly romance novel), but that was never definitively dealt with or ended or anything like that. I highly doubt that any further books will include this particular romance either, unless the author plans on continually sending Dotsy back to Italy and having people get murdered. That would get pretty old, pretty fast.

All in all, I would have liked a little more character development for most of the characters as well as the budding relationship/ love interest issue to be handled a little more concretely, but it was a decent book none the less. Perfect for a quick beach read. I mean, hell! I read it in a little over 24 hours on my trip to and from NYC. ( )