Ghirlandaio's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Weak characters, shallow plot
Review: The overall premise of this book was interesting - an "artful" murder mystery set in Tuscan Italy. Having visited Lucca myself, I was somewhat disppointed to find that relatively little of the flavor of the place came through in the book. Worse, the characters are shallow and stereotyped. The detective intuits his way through virtually every difficulty, using his mind reading powers to solve each problem. While a psychic detective may appeal to some, I find the concept not at all believable. The rest of the characters are poorly developed, shallow stereotypes and the dialogue is childish. The story had potential, but in the end, I would classify this book as "fluff".

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Italian Mystery
Review: This is a great old fashioned mystery in the Agatha Christie mold. There is an interesting, cultivated detective, a pleasant dalliance, and plenty of loopy characters. The murderer and the motive are plausible and all is revealed in the traditional gathering of suspects. Subplots-involving family matters- are quite touching even. A good choice for art lovers and Italophiles. Ciao.

Rating:
Summary: Badly written by a weak author with an oversized thesaurus.
Review: This is a very badly written mystery. The language is tortured, the plot is weak, the characters have no depth. Want some examples- try using the word "effulgent" in a love poem. The main detective intuits the next step (the same way the Profiler does on TV) and goes to the scene of the crime long after ward only to discover the main clue that all of the local police missed. Lastly, a mystery set in Lucca should be filled with details about the beautiful walled Italian city- you better know those details from another source, you won't find them in any depth here.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Italian Mystery
Review: This is a very badly written mystery. The language is tortured, the plot is weak, the characters have no depth. Want some examples- try using the word "effulgent" in a love poem. The main detective intuits the next step (the same way the Profiler does on TV) and goes to the scene of the crime long after ward only to discover the main clue that all of the local police missed. Lastly, a mystery set in Lucca should be filled with details about the beautiful walled Italian city- you better know those details from another source, you won't find them in any depth here.