The Juliet Code by Pepper Basham

The Juliet Code
by Pepper Basham

ISBN-13: 9781636096940
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
Released: December 1, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Frederick and Grace Percy finally make it to Italy to enjoy a delayed honeymoon and explore the beauties of the historic city of Venice. To their surprise, their friend, Detective Jack Miracle, is also in the city, investigating a series of thefts of the Juliet paintings, including one owned by millionaire Laraby Covington. Laraby's holding a house party where he's featuring another Juliet painting and wants them there. These Renaissance paintings feature Shakespeare’s tragic heroine and three of the paintings hold a secret code to find a hidden treasure. As Freddie and Grace are pulled deeper into the mystery, can they use their wits to stop the thieves before it’s too late.?


My Review:
The Juliet Code is a Christian mystery set in 1914 in Venice. This is the third book in a series, and you can understand it without reading the previous books. However, this book did spoil both events and the mystery in the previous books, so it's best to read them in order.

Grace is full of enthusiasm and a lively imagination fueled by books. She gets a thrill from adventure, and I love how resourceful she is in the face of unexpected adventures. Frederick's finally getting into being a sleuth and actually put together many of the clues before Grace did. She figured out the secret code leading to the treasure, though. Anyway, they were working with Detective Jack, so he mostly led the questioning and detecting. Frederick and Grace spent a lot of time mooning over each other (as it is their honeymoon) and having fade-to-black bedroom scenes.

It was a fun romp, but I had the ghost whodunit figured out before even Grace (who had all of the clues) and the same with Laraby's stunt. The ending got confusing, partly because the author switched from the known names for the characters to their true names and relationships. The scenes were so poorly described that the 'suspenseful' ending just left me confused. It felt like the author forgot how she initially described the place, nor did the scene seem possible.

Grace and Fredrick learned to trust God with each other's safety. There was no bad language. There was implied married sex. Overall, I'd recommend this fun mystery, but I hope the end is rewritten to make more sense as it was hard to follow.


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.