She's so strong and worldly, even in the face of some weird and spooky happenings in the castle, and I liked that she tackled tricky situations with fortitude and courage. Those who have read the book will understand when I say that I also loved Alina’s story, the glamorous parties and the fabulous ending of the novel.

The journal detailed every aspect of everyday life on board the ship – from the menus to the Fancy Dress balls to the social and political tensions among the passengers in this volatile pre-war period.This is the story of Constance who is feeling alone in the world following the death of her daughter and her husband. When Constance Bowen, recently widowed, mourning the loss of her daughter, and in a not particularly close relationship with her son, is given the opportunity to work as a paid companion to an infirm gentleman in Tuscany she leaps at the chance for an escape from her humdrum life - despite the disapproval of her son. It made me both desperate to get my feet back on Florentine soil and astounded that Rhys wrote this book at home in lockdown rather than sitting in an Italian piazza! But William is not recovering as expected, Evelyn is acting strangely and Connie is accused of stealing and is becoming confused. The castle surrounded by lush Italian countryside and backed by the creepy Black Rock hill is beautifully evoked, as is the folklore surrounding the spot where local witches were killed.

As the novel progresses your liking, and disliking, of the the individuals changes along with the subtle shifts as to who was causing Constance to feel she was losing her mind, whilst doing her best to protect those in her care. The accompanying strange nocturnal noises, heard by Connie, provided a sinister edge to this read and enhanced the unsettling feeling the book created.I really enjoyed the way this book played out, slowly increasing the dread — to me it felt part Agatha Christie, part Daphne du Maurier! The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

Instead, Rachel Rhys has woven a wonderful tapestry of a mystery with such subtle incidents occurring that bit by bit a twisted story starts to emerge. Murder Under the Tuscan Sun is a marvelous mystery with a touch of malevolence and totally magnificent. Rachel Rhys should be everyone's summer reading * CLARE MACKINTOSH * A thorougly absorbing and compelling read * JANE FALLON * Rachel Rhys is in a league of her own, creating compelling, engrossing historical mysteries that grip readers by the throat every single time * LISA JEWELL * Rachel Rhys takes us to an isolated castle in 1920s Tuscany for a brilliant and Du Maurier-esque tale of dark secrets, rising menace and the importance of taking a leap of faith.uk to find out more about her work, including her latest pyschological suspense title The Wedding Party. The Italian sunshine and countryside are both beautiful but the intense heat can also be oppressive and add to the dark atmosphere in the castle. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Opportunity arises when she sees a job posting for a companion to Mr William North, a celebrated art expert and dealer, who has suffered a brain haemorrhage and whose recovery is expected to be slow. Readers of intelligent historical fiction, lovers of all things Italian and fans of immersive storytelling will love this book.

I have loved her previous books and with her new book set just outside Florence, my favourite place to visit, and in a castle with some wonderful art and the setting of 1927 this was a book I had to read. When she arrives, she meets not only William but his niece Evelyn, her fascist husband Roberto and Evelyn’s somewhat neglected daughter Nora. So beautifully described that you can feel the Tuscan heat on your shoulders and imagine yourself in the castle in which the action takes place. Evelyn’s eight year old daughter, who is awkward and neglected by her mother and Alina, the housekeeper who seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders.The number of times she has similar interactions with the people around her, and then she goes and forgets/forgives them, only for them to repeat their behaviour got a little repetitive after a time. To remove herself from her mundane existence in England and the shadows that still haunt her connected to the death of her daughter Millie several years ago. Carrying with her a double grief – for her husband, dead a year, and daughter Millie, five years earlier – Constance is wracked with nerves and doubt.