A Butler and Bartorelli mystery by Val Culley
The second book in the Butler and Bartorelli series will be of interest
to many people who have enjoyed a holiday in Sorrento because the action takes
place in the historic centre of the resort and at beaches and villages out
along the Sorrento peninsula.
Journalist Kate Butler and her partner, Steve Bartorelli, a retired
Detective Chief Inspector, are in Sorrento for the wedding of the daughter of
one of Steve’s Italian cousins.
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| Piazza Tasso - where the tragic event occurs at the start of the book |
When tragedy strikes an English family staying at their hotel, Kate
feels she has to help them, having already become friends with the mother,
Janice, who is a woman of about her own age.
But Steve is distracted by meeting up with Italian relatives he has not
seen since he was a child and is also wary of becoming too involved with the
family because two of his cousins are senior officers in the Polizia di Stato.
Kate is so determined to get justice for her new English friends she
joins forces with another visitor to Sorrento to investigate what has happened,
after it becomes clear the Italian police aren’t looking much further than the
English family to solve the crime.
The book will delight readers who know and love Sorrento because much of
the action in the novel takes place in the ancient streets in the centre of the
resort and at locations out along the Sorrentine peninsula, such as Capo di
Sorrento, Marina di Puolo, Annunziata, and Marina del Cantone.
Kate’s enquiries cause her to wander the narrow streets that run
parallel to the Corso Italia, which existed in Greek and Roman times, such as
Via San Cesareo and Via Pieta and to visit the ancient Franciscan cloisters next to the Church of San Francesco that have become a popular wedding venue.
She soon finds that all her lines of enquiry lead back to Piazza Tasso,
Sorrento’s main square, where the tragic event took place.
But she ends up putting herself in danger in a dramatic scene near the
beach at Marina di Puolo when her sleuthing gets her too close to the truth.
Kate also learns about Sorrento’s colourful history and samples the
local wine and food specialities, for which the resort has become famous, while she tries to solve the crime.
The Shooting in Sorrento is the first British crime novel to be set in
Sorrento.
