A review by readbooks10
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen

3.0

Englishwoman Juliet "Lettie" Browning visits Venice in 1928 with her aunt and meets a handsome young Venetian. Then she visits again in 1938 as a schoolteacher leading a class of students. She later returns for a year of art study. This book goes back and forth in time between Juliet's story and that of her great niece, Carolyn Grant, in current times. When Aunt Lettie dies, Carolyn inherits 3 mysterious keys and a sketchbook and decides to go to Venice to see if she can find out about her aunt's life there. I found this book to be a bit predictable and the characters and their love stories didn't really engage me that much and some things didn't ring true (a secret apartment that remodelers don't know about?). The best parts were about the city of Venice - it's customs and festivals, food, smells, and difficulty in navigating it. I love Rhys Bowen's "Royal Spyness" mystery series, which has lots of humor and endearing characters. This historical novel/romance was somewhat of a disappointment, although the final chapters about life in Venice during WWII were more interesting.