Reviews

A devastating earthquake has affected the mountain town of Gibellina. Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are driving back home to their Villa Alba del Ciliegio through the bumpy roads across the ghosted town and its ruins. When the car breaks down, Enzo sets home on foot, promising to bring help. A few hours later, he arrives on the scene to find Irene missing. No one has seen or heard of her ever since.

Sicily, Present Day

Milo Conti is a TV showman known for his love for true crime (and drama). He enjoys playing with the audiences’ minds and people’s lives by ‘solving’ cold cases and delivering verdicts on air. When Enzo becomes Milo’s next target, Maddalena, Enzo’s daughter, contacts her childhood friend for help.

Retired detective April Cobain flies to Sicily to help her friend. As she digs deeper into the case, family secrets are revealed, resulting in more confusion and chaos. With the clock ticking away, can April find out what had happened that fateful evening all those years ago?

The story comes from April’s third-person POV and Irene’s first-person POV (addressing another character in the second person).

What I Like:

When the ToC (table of contents) showed 120 chapters, I had a mini heart attack. Fortunately, the chapters are short and crisp. They result in a fast-paced narration that alters between the past and present.

The chapter placement is done very well. As April explores the Villa and learns about the Borgata family members, we see Irene’s life progressing in parallel. Though it causes some repetition, it works in the plot’s favor to help readers connect the past and present.

Irene’s POV is wonderfully done. I wasn’t sure how I’d like the second-person address, but it makes things realistic from her side. She is not a vague entity but a person full of secrets, emotions, fears, doubts, etc. The writing presents her state of mind- frantic, messy, torn, and agitated, allowing readers to see her side of the story.

The setting comes alive without slowing down the narrative. The summer heat in Sicily, the architecture, food, people, and especially Villa Alba (a symbol of wealth and power but, in reality, a house barely holding together) are easy to visualize.

What Could Have Been Better for Me:

I was happy almost until the last quarter that we don’t see any ‘love track’ than what’s already there. But no! It comes when I didn’t want and least expected it. Thankfully, it’s not detailed and doesn’t distract the reader from the core plot, but it is not necessary.

Though I like paranormal elements, I want them to be more than just ‘feelings’. We have quite a few references to ghosts and stuff, which go nowhere in the plot. This seems more like an attempt to create an atmosphere. It’s not necessary and only causes a distraction (I kept wondering if something will come out of it).

With the focus on the case, there isn’t much space for anything else. I couldn’t connect with April at any point. The book totally belongs to the Borgata family and their secrets. There are a lot of secrets, too (some unnecessary and abruptly rounded off at the end).

The ending is a letdown. I knew what would happen in the climax. Heck, I saw it all around 30% of the book and was prepared for it. The lack of surprise wasn’t much of an issue. But the events afterward were summed up around 5 pages and felt totally rushed. It was almost like the book had no energy left after the reveal and wanted to wrap it up as soon as possible.

Given April’s role in the book, the reveal should have come from her. What’s the use of having a detective working with another local detective if someone else takes over the climax? While April does connect a few dots, her standing on the sidelines during a crucial scene doesn’t give a good impression.

To summarize, The Secret of Villa Alba is a fast-paced novel with tried and tested plot seen in multiple books, movies, and shows. What sets it apart is Irene’s POV and the execution (until the last section). Pick it up if you want something familiar and quick.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley #TheSecretofVillaAlba

***

P.S.: The book is listed as general fiction on NetGalley. This is the right tag, though I’d call it a family drama. Reading this as a mystery (even a cozy mystery) will result in disappointment. There isn’t any police procedural here despite April’s former profession. Once I realized this, I could adjust my expectations.

Content Warnings

sucharita's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

theoverbookedbibliophile's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

In 1968, Sicily twenty-four-year-old Irene Borgata (nee Weatherbury), the second wife of Enzo Borgata disappeared without a trace. Irene and Enzo had been driving back from town to Villa Alba Trapani, the Borgata family home when their car broke down on a deserted road. Irene had lost a leg from injuries incurred during a devastating earthquake some months ago that destroyed the nearby mountain town of Gibellina. She waits in the car while Enzo walks home to get help but when he returns Irene is nowhere to be seen. Over the decades there have been whispers and conjectures but no one could ever find out what happened to Irene who is presumed deceased.

Fast forward to the present day (thirty-five years after Irene’s disappearance) when a celebrity investigator Milo Conti unearths the mystery from decades back, intent on proving that Enzo murdered Irene and plans to expose him on his popular television program. Enzo’s daughter from his first marriage Maddalena Borgata asks estranged friend April Cobain, former DI of the Avon and Somerset Police in England, for help to find out what happened to her step-mother and prove the rumors wrong before Conti broadcasts the episode implicating her father. April, who knew Enzo from when she and Maddi were school friends was fond of him and considered him a father-figure in her life, comes to Sicily to help Maddi despite the fact that they had lost touch after an unpleasant incident year ago. As April delves into the history of the Borgata family and those closely associated with them she uncovers a complex web of lies and deceptions, links with Mafiosi, infidelity, blackmail and cover-ups exposing long-buried secrets harbored by several members of the Borgata family. It is also evident that Enzo’s English wife didn’t have an easy time adjusting to her new life and not everyone was equally welcoming to her. But would anyone cause her harm? But what truly happened to Irene? Was Enzo truly the loving devoted husband everyone thought him to be? What evidence does Conti have to prove his theories?

The Secret of Villa Alba by Louise Douglas is a well-crafted mystery that strikes the perfect balance between suspense and family drama. The narrative is shared across two timelines with the present day told in the third person with excerpts from what can assume are Irene’s journal/letters covering the timeline in the 1960s. The 1968 Belice earthquake is incorporated into the 1960s timeline and is well woven into the events of the story. The dual timelines are seamlessly woven into a consistently paced, well-structured and engaging narrative. Each of the characters (the main and supporting characters) is well defined though the resolution of a few sub-plots did feel a tad abrupt. I could predict part of the final reveal around the halfway mark (plenty of breadcrumbs, so it wasn’t difficult to do so) but there were several twisty surprises along the way. The elegant prose, immersive setting and suspenseful pacing render this an enjoyable read that I would not hesitate to recommend.

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on July 3, 2023.

Rating: 3.75⭐

rbharath's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I loved ‘The Room in the Attic’ by the author which I read nearly two years back. Going into this, I expected a cozy mystery, and while it can be regarded as that, it was too typical for me to be able to appreciate it.

Irene Weatherbury, married to Enzo Borgata, disappeared 35 years back. In the present time, Milo Conti, a television reporter is pursuing the story, seeking to nail Enzo as the person who is guilty of murdering his wife. The story is told in two timelines – the present and the voice of Irene from the past.

Enzo met Irene on a trip to England and they get married and move to Italy to their Villa Alba home. It was not an easy marriage for Irene requiring cultural adjustment as well as moving on from a past relationship. Added to that, Enzo’s mother seems to disapprove of the marriage. There are also unfriendly vibes from Maddalena, Enzo’s daughter from his first marriage (Enzo’s first wife passed away shortly after Maddalena’s birth) who was only 5 years old at the time. There are also Enzo’s brother Sam, sister Daria & help Giuseppa at Villa Alba with whom Irene has to get along. She finds some purpose in tending to the horses, as a result of which she gets along well with Enzo’s dad. The earthquake brings about damage as well as injury to Irene’s leg. While out on a drive one evening, their car breaks down. In the absence of any other alternative, Enzo walks to Villa Alba to return in a different car. When he is back to the car, Irene is nowhere to be seen.

In the present time, Milo Conti is digging into the family dynamics and promises a full revelation in a few days. Maddalena Borgata writes to April Cobain, who she was acquainted with during her stay in England. April has been an investigator, but is still trying to get over the sorrow of her husband’s demise. Also, the last meeting between Maddalena and April in Bangkok ended badly and they have not been on speaking terms since. After some initial hesitation, April agrees and travel to Italy to investigate what happened to Irene, with help from local law enforcement.

In the case of cozy crime mysteries, I have been ok to not critically evaluate the procedures and even the plot tie-up. However, this is a stale story repeated over hundreds of novels & movies. There is some reasonable character development for Irene, Maddalena and April, but most of the other characters are flat. I could guess how the mystery would be tied up early on, and yet the last sections were far more poorly written than I expected. The prospective future outlook offered for the central characters (especially April) was very silly and abrupt.

On the (only) positive side, this is a book which you can finish pretty quickly.

Thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books & the author for a free electronic review copy.

trinny's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

When a TV personality renewed for his crime exposes threatens to reveal her Father Enzo as his wifes murderer, Maddelena calls upon her estranged friend ex DI April Cobain to help clear his name.
In 1968 Irene went missing after her and Enzo's car broke down on a remote road in Sicily, despite numerous searches she was never seen again, the impact of that night has remained with all family members
Told from Irene and April's perspective this is a wonderful duel timeline mystery novel. I was engrossed in the descriptions of the area in Sicily where Villa Alba is situated, the devastating earthquake in 1968 is written in appropriately into the storyline.
Will April discover the truth of what happened that night before Enzo is accused and at what cost will exposing family secrets have on everyone.?
Many thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this advanced copy, I am under no obligation to leave my review

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