In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander

In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander ISBN-13: 9781250164735 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Minotaur Books Released: January 7th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Some corpses lie undisturbed longer than others. But when Lady Emily discovers a body hidden in plain sight amongst the ruins of Pompeii, it still comes as quite a shock.

Eager to explore ancient sites and modern archaeological digs, Lady Emily jumps at the chance to accompany her dearest childhood friend Ivy Brandon on an excursion to Italy. Soon old friends are joined by new, including the American siblings Benjamin and Calliope Carter (he, a moody painter, and she, a freethinking archaeologist capable of sparring with even the Duke of Bainbridge's most devious flirtations). But when the two women, along with Emily's devoted husband Colin Hargreaves, uncover a corpse and the police dismiss the murder as the work of local gangsters, Lady Emily investigates.

But an artful murderer is nothing compared to the sudden appearance of a beautiful young woman who claims a shocking relationship to the Hargreaves family. As Colin warms to the girl, Emily must endure an endless stream of slights and snubs. Someone else has it out for Emily, too, someone who keeps sending her threats. Undaunted, Lady Emily's desire to unearth the truth takes her from Pompeii to Naples.


My Review:
In the Shadow of Vesuvius is a mystery set in 1902 in Italy. It's the 14th in a series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones. This book spoiled some events from previous books since Colin's daughter by a previous love shows up to cause trouble in his marriage to Lady Emily.

The author alternated between the mystery and a story about a poetess who lived in Pompeii at the time of the eruption. The story set at the time of the eruption has little to do with the mystery and seems mainly to show what life was like in the city at the time. The author clearly did a lot of research for Pompeii for both time periods and wove these details into the story. Emily and Colin asked questions, followed up clues, and considered possible scenarios until she figured out what was going on and whodunit. She was intelligent, competent, and likable. The other characters were also interesting. I was able to guess whodunit long before Lady Emily, though.

There were no sex scenes. There were only a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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