A Villa in Sicily: Olive Oil and Murder

A Cats and Dogs Cozy Mystery, Book 1

By: Fiona Grace

Narrated by: Sarah Kempton

A Villa in Sicily: Olive Oil and Murder is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by best-selling author Fiona Grace, author of Murder in the Manor, a number one best seller with over 100 five-star reviews!

Audrey Smart, 34, is a brilliant vet - yet fed up by her demanding clients who think they know more than her and who don’t care about their animals. Burnt-out with the endless hours, she wonders if the time has come for a new direction. And when her 15th year high school reunion (and her hopes for re-sparking on old flame) end in disaster, Audrey knows the time has come to make a change.

When Audrey sees an ad for a $1 home in Sicily, it captivates her. The only catch is that the house requires renovation, something she knows little about. She wonders if it could be real - and if she may really be crazy enough to go for it.

Can Audrey create a life and career - and the home of her dreams - in a beautiful Sicilian village? And perhaps even find love while she’s there?

Or will an unexpected death - one that only she can solve - put an end to all of her plans?

Are some dreams too good to be true?

A laugh-out-loud cozy packed with mystery, intrigue, renovation, animals, food, wine - and of course, love - A Villa in Sicily will capture your heart and keep you glued to the very last minute.

©2020 Fiona Grace (P)2020 Fiona Grace

Great Premise

Wish she had delivered on it. The writing is about average. Why this is the cats and dogs series when the animal was a Fox, I don’t understand. Not sure the author has actually traveled much or there would have been a few less errors. The taxi driver dropped a US tourist miles away from the destination. I thought maybe there were no cars in the village, but there was. I don’t think that would happen in Sicily. Not when there are US dollars involved. The ease with which she used her cell phone overseas was amazing. I wasn’t bothered by how easily she found people who speak English, that was actually fairly typical.

This could have been a great idea. How many of us have not day dreamed about buying a 1 euro house and have it turn out well? That could have been a great story without tossing in a murder. Then when she does add in a murder, it was too light weight. She ends the murder too abruptly and too easily. She could have gone more in-depth with the description of the house and the neighborhood. She could of moved the veterinary activities further.

Also, the narrator just doesn’t do some accents well. The main character’s “Boston” accent was non existent, the Southern accent was one of the worst I have heard. I don’t know about the Italian accents, I’m not Italian. Also, at least one of the characters had an annoying voice at the beginning of the book. Why make it annoying? She would have been good had the accents not been bad.

I may try the next one.

Slow story w/ wrong narrator.

I’m not sorry I finished it, as it had its moments, but the story is slow and incomplete. A good portion of the book is background and then rushed at the end. The murder doesn’t even occur until more than halfway through the book and the solution to the mystery comes mostly by serendipity. There is some fleshing out of the main character, but the rest are fairly 2 dimensional, though I think the G and DeNardo characters hold promise if they’re developed in book 2.

The narrator is not bad, but the wrong choice: a British narrator for a book where the lead character is supposed to be from Boston and that takes place in the US and Sicily. It’s distracting, at best, to have the thoughts of the primary character in a British accent. And, w/ the exception of an overdone southern drawl on one character, all the Americans have the same accent no matter where they’re from.

Because of other books I’ve read from this author, I will likely get the next book in the series, but hoping it is better paced and with more character development. I really want to like it. I think I could like Audrey, as she stays pretty upbeat, and I love her sidekick, Nick.

Boring

Sorry boring plot and characters however the narrator was good. Expected more depth but then it ended

Disappointing

Terrible story / writing! Had such great potential. The idea was good. Execution awful.

Narrator was also terrible. Accents were ridiculous.

Very disappointing.

Yuk

For a professional woman the protagonist acts like she's on the low side of 13. To let this woman live on her own in any city in any country is a crime, she's inept, Beyond that, she's a fool. The southern gentleman speaks as though he is mentally deficient. Don't waste your time. I barely got through three chapters and wanted her to be the deader than dead victim.