Psychological drama and mystery set on a Tuscan bed and breakfast.
Divorced Cerys owns Villa Lucia and is running it as a holiday rental while also living nearby in an annex on the property. Her daughter, Lowri is currently visiting. Harry and Zoe Collard arrive for a stay along with their son, Charlie. Things go awry fairly quickly and one of them ends up stabbed to death in the infinity swimming pool.
Predictable despite the attempts at misdirection, the characters all have some damage from domestic trauma. Along with spousal abuse, other themes include alcoholism, sexual assault, toxic masculinity, divorce, casual drug use, and effects of parental issues on children growing up in their homes. I never managed to connect with any of the characters as they were all fairly one dimensional and their behavior seemed an unbelievable many times. The relationship between Lowri and Charlie was too convenient and the two men, Nick and Harry were just complete jerks. No nuance. Just all bad. The story drug on in places and the ending seemed to take forever to arrive. The plot was banal and I never felt any suspense or thrills.
I listened to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Clare Corbett, did an OK job of voicing the characters but they most all sounded the same. This production definitely would have benefited by having a larger cast, or at least one male voice.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Tags, genre — murder, abuse, alcoholism, sexual assault, infidelity
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