An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or a nightmare?

In a remote castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:
The ailing gentleman art-dealer
His dazzling niece
Her handsome Fascist husband
Their neglected young daughter
The housekeeper who knows everything
and Connie, the English widow working for them

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Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible wailing inside the walls. Is she losing her grip on reality?

Or does someone in the castle want her gone?

Filled with breath-taking Tuscan scenery, a sinister atmosphere and an English widow caught up in a family feud with a wandering murderer out to get her. Murder Under the Tuscan Sun is a compelling tale of classic crime with an escapist setting, a 1920s background, and vivid characters trapped in a murder mystery.

My Review

Poor Constance! Too ‘old and fat’ to be any threat to the ‘ailing gentleman art dealer’, recovering from a bleed to the brain. That’s the view of the selfish, air-head Evelyn, who sees women’s only worth being decorative, forgetting that it takes more than that to be a good ‘companion’ to an intelligent man like William North. A man who disapproves of Mussolini’s black shirts and Evelyn’s husband Roberto happens to be one of them.

Not that Constance has any designs on her wealthy employer. Though after a year as a widow and many more since she had a proper relationship with her late husband, it’s difficult not to be attracted. Even in illness William is an imposing, handsome figure. But Constance has travelled alone to Italy to be his companion and nothing more.

Evelyn’s eight-year-old daughter Nora from her first marriage is a stick-thin child with a crooked nose. Desperate for her mother to notice her, she soon forms an attachment of sorts to Constance, who has warmed to the child’s intelligence and wit.

I am not usually a reader of historical fiction, but every now and again, a location, a description, a setting or a historical event takes my fancy. Murder Under The Tuscan Sun is one of those. A castle in Tuscany with secrets hidden in its walls, eerie music in the night, ghosts even, but are they real or a figment of Constance’s imagination? Or is it something far more sinister?

Set mainly in 1927, when the ‘bright young things’ were partying between the two world wars, Constance knows she doesn’t fit in. As a widow in her late forties, her life is a daily grind. Her son James can’t believe she’s going to Italy to take up a position in a castle full of strangers, or is he just a little bit jealous?

I loved this book and read it in virtually one sitting. It has everything. Interesting characters, a beautiful setting described in perfect detail, intrigue and a giant dog called Solomon. Wonderful!

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

RACHEL RHYS is the pseudonym of psychological thriller writer Tammy Cohen. Her debut, Dangerous Crossing, was a bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick and was followed by A Fatal Inheritance and Island of Secrets. Rachel’s latest novel, Murder Under the Tuscan Sun is once again superb historical suspense crime, this time with an irresistible Italian 1920s setting. She lives in North London, with her three (allegedly) grown up children and her neurotic rescue dog.

Visit www.tammycohen.co.uk to find out more about her work, including her latest psychological suspense title The Wedding Party. You can also find her on facebook or twitter as @MsTamarCohen or on Instagram as @tammycohenwriter.