Murder in an Italian Café: A Bria Bartolucci Mystery

In Falco’s delightful second cozy featuring Bria Bartolucci (after Murder in an Italian Village), the widowed Amalfi coast B&B owner investigates the death of a celebrity chef. Famous Italian food personality Lugo Gordonato is planning to launch a new TV show with an episode shot on the Amalfi coast. Lugo’s manager has selected a café run by Bria’s friend, Annamaria Antonelli, as the setting for the pilot, but when Annamaria is late to the first day of shooting, he ropes in Bria as Lugo’s cohost instead. Starstruck, Bria chats with Lugo just before the show’s main segment, and he confides that he’s planning to go off-script. Moments later, with cameras rolling, Lugo clutches his throat and dies in front of Bria and the entire production crew. Horrified, Bria springs into investigation mode with the help of her best friend, Rosalie, and Bria’s budding romantic interest, police chief Luca Vivaldi. After parsing a surprisingly long list of suspects, a well-hidden piece of Lugo’s past points the crew toward the surprising killer. In an improvement on the previous entry, Falco matches his lush descriptions of the glittering Italian coast with top-shelf fair-play sleuthing. Armchair detectives and armchair travelers: rejoice. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Oct.)