The Palazzo by Kayte Nunn

Book Blurb

Successful beauty entrepreneur Vivi Savidge is about to celebrate her fortieth birthday at the Palazzo Stellina, a historic former convent in the foothills of the Italian Alps.

Vivi’s little sister is flying in from Brisbane with her sixteen-year-old twins in tow. Her ex-colleague and his new husband are coming from Boston, and old university friend Caroline is driving from Turin. Every one of them is hiding a shameful secret.

Amid a suffocating heatwave, the holiday ignites an explosive cocktail of obsession, jealousy, and greed. Before the week is over, secrets will be exposed and the gathering will turn deadly, leaving one victim, a handful of suspects, and a murderer in their midst.

My Review
Having read previous books by Kayte Nunn I was excited to be given the opprtunity to be part of the blog tour for her new book The Palazzo . This is the first thriller that I have read by her and was drawnto the setting of a palazzo in Italy, my favourite place to visit.

One of my favourite things about this novel was the characters. The main character is Vivi, a succesful business woman who has founded a beauty empire and sadly lost her husband to cancer. It is her fortieth birthday and to celebrate she has rented out the Pallazo Stellina and paid for those closest to her to come to the villa and celebrate. There is a real eclectic mix of characters that I loved getting to know. Her sister Alice is an artist and a single mum to twins Mia and Isla, Peter worked with her at Vivid and is with his younger husband Nick, Caroline an old freind from University who lives in Italy and finally her assistant Jade. Add to this the gorgeous Michelin chef Marco and his elderly grandmother Stella. I loved getting into the psychology of these characters, their relationships, their lives, their hopes and dreams an watching the underlying tensions that culminate at Vivi’s fortieth birthday meal. My favourite character was Vivi, but it was Jade I had sympathy for; she is in a difficult place straddling the line between employee and friend on the holidays.

The setting of this book was amazing, a beautiful but rustic palazzo at the foot of the Italian Alps and a gorgeous Italian chef on hand to cook some wonderful meals, heaven to me. Kayte Nunn’s descriptive prose made me feel I was there with the characters in the heat of Italy, sitting by the pool with a glass of Prosecco. From the first page we know someone is dead but we don’t find out who or why until the end of the book. This is a real slow burner with the main part of the book getting to know the characters, none of whom seem capable of murder. If I’m honest I found it a bit too slow for me, I wanted more of the murder and more action , however the last fifty pages or so were full of tension as secrets and lies spilled out with too much alcohol. With betrayal, blackmail, a stalker and secrets there are plenty of motives for murder coming from some strange quarters that did surprise me.

The Palazzo is an easy read and would be perfect to take on your summer holidays. A fantastic mix of characters, their relationships and the difficulties within them and the lies they tell. The setting is perfect for me as I love all things Italian, and it was brought to life by Kayte Nunn’s descriptive prose. I’d describe this book as a scintillating and heady read in the heat of the Italian summer.

I’d like the thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours and No Exit Press for the invite to be part of this blog tour.