Murder on Lake Garda by Tom Hindle
One happy couple. Two divided families. A wedding party to die for. On the private island of Castello Fiore - surrounded by the glittering waters of Lake Garda - the illustrious Heywood family gathers for their son Laurence's wedding to Italian influencer Eva Bianchi. But as the ceremony begins, a blood-curdling scream brings the proceedings to a devastating halt. With the wedding guests trapped as they await the police, old secrets come to light and family rivalries threaten to bubble over. Everyone is desperate to know ... Who is the killer? And can they be found before they strike again?
Well, Tom Hindle has only gone and done it again and wrote a very engaging and satisfying murder mystery. This time we are transported to the height of summer, in the lush surroundings of Lake Garda on what should be the happiest of days. But of course that isn’t to be the case! I absolutely adored ‘A Fatal Crossing’ and Tom became an auto-read for myself and I thoroughly enjoyed his third stand-alone. His books are always perfectly plotted, he creates great characters and I’m sure that this will be loved by many a reader.
Robyn has been invited to Lake Garda to the wedding of her boyfriend’s brother, Laurence. A typical hedge funder he is marrying an Italian social influencer, Eva. Robyn is very nervous as she is not of their class and this is the first time meeting her boyfriend’s family. The wedding is to take place on the private island of Castello Fiore and just as the ceremony starts there is a loud scream and the assembled guests and wedding party find a body. As the guests are trapped on the island, Robyn quickly comes to the realisation that the murderer has to be one of them…
I love how Tom loves to play around with the notion of ‘locked room’ mysteries, well in case this is more of a locked island. It means it has to be one of either the wedding guests or the wedding party being the guilty party. Or does it??? And what a host of selfish and conceited individuals we have to choose from. Laurence and his family are one of those wealthy families that ooze entitlement, think they can get away with anything and are hideous to us mere normal types. The bride and her family aren't much better either. Eva is more concerned with getting the perfect shot than mingling with her guests. If she isn't going to get a ‘like’ for it, it's not worth doing. Then there is poor Robyn completely out of depth and really the only nice person in the whole book. I really loved her sense of right and wrong, her determination to figure out what is happening even though she isn't really integrated into the group per se. She has the element of being slightly detachment and that helps her gather the clues behind the reason for the murder!
Hindle does a great job of putting a golden-age crime premise into the modern age and its packed full of reveals, revelations and red herrings! The juxtaposition of dark events happening in such a beautiful environment is really played upon and done well. I flew through it in one day and I recommend it very easily!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
