Frail Barrier

by Edward Sklepowich

Overview

The new Urbino Macintyre Venetian mystery - Amateur sleuth and long-time Venice resident Urbino Macintyre is investigating three deaths from apparently natural causes in the space of a few weeks that have aroused his suspicions. As Venice prepares for the annual Regatta and the atmosphere reaches fever pitch, Urbino knows that somewhere, just beyond his reach, is the vital piece of information that just might enable him to save an innocent life, if only he can find it in time . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727865694
Publisher:	Severn House Publishers
Publication date:	01/01/2008
Series:	Urbino McIntyre Venetian Mystery Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.82(w) x 8.72(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Edward Sklepowich has been an expatriate American for many years. He has been a Fullbright scholar of American literature in Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia. He divides his time between Tunisia, where he is a university lecturer, Venice, New York, and a former Phoenician town on the Tunisian Mediterranean called Sousse. His deep feeling for Venice is one expression of his maternal Italian heritage.

Editorial Reviews

Did the three loosely connected Venetian residents dead within a few weeks really fall prey to natural causes?Amateur sleuth, biographer and lover of all things Venetian, Urbino Macintyre (The Last Gondola, 2003, etc.) thinks something is wrong with three suspiciously proximate deaths. His longtime friend and detecting partner, Barbara, Contessa Capo-Zendrini, disagrees, but Urbino is determined to search for the truth. The dead are Konrad Zoll, a wealthy German who had leukemia; his young Italian helper; and a cleaning woman Urbino had known for years. The sleuths learn that the young man was killed by falling masonry, but the death that most troubles Urbino is that of Albina Gonella, a cleaner and restroom attendant at several Venetian cafes. Passing by as she's finishing cleaning at Da Valdo, Urbino escorts her home, only to discover that she's left her keys in the cafe. Although her sister Giulietta lets her in, she goes back to pick them up and dies of a heart attack. The streets of Venice, both liquid and solid, are packed with tourists for the running of the annual Regatta, which brings Urbino's leisurely orbit closer to the people closest to the deceased. A regatta party at Barbara's palazzo brings all the suspects together and yields the final clues. The mystery is secondary to descriptions of Venice as lovingly detailed as a travel guide.

Kirkus Reviews