An Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery
You can
almost taste the wine and feel the heat of the Italian sunshine on your face as
you read about the adventures of retired DCI Dan Armstrong and his dog, Oscar, in
this second crime novel by T.A. Williams, published in 2023.
Dan, who has
given up his job as a detective to try to save his marriage, ended up staying
in Tuscany at the end of the last novel and renting a small house in the
countryside. He had been attending a writing course in Tuscany and found
himself helping the Italian police with translating while they investigated a
murder at the villa where he had been staying.
He knew that
his wife had met someone else and when she contacted him and asked for a
divorce, Dan, who was by then totally charmed by Tuscany, decided to adopt
Oscar, who needed a new home, and make a new life for himself in Chianti
country.
His
intention had been to pursue his ambition to write historical crime fiction
while enjoying life in the lovely surroundings of Tuscany. However, after
becoming friends with an Italian police inspector, Virgilio Pisano, who he met
in the first novel, he finds himself helping out with a second police
investigation.
There has
been a murder at a luxury golf and country club near where Dan lives and some
of the suspects the police wish to interview speak little or no Italian. The
victim is the millionaire owner of the club, who was disliked by most of his
family, his staff, and local people
living near the club. He is discovered to have been a womaniser, a difficult
boss and even unkind to his own family.
There are
many good things about this novel. Dan is an engaging character and I like the
way the author shows him using his detecting skills and drawing on his considerable
experience while working at Scotland Yard, to help the Italian police solve the
case.
Oscar
contributes to the sleuthing in a plausible way and the author succeeds in
putting over his doggy personality to the reader.
T.A. Williams
clearly knows Tuscany well and he serves up local information and his descriptions
of the food and wine of the region in just the right amounts.
The ending came
as a surprise and was by no means predictable, which I am sure many cosy crime
fans will appreciate. This novel will lead neatly to more stories featuring these
characters against this beautiful backdrop
My only
slight criticism was the occasional disappointing use of language in the book
such as describing a woman as a ‘good-looking blonde’, or saying someone ‘flushed
slightly’.
Nevertheless,
I would read more by this author, who shows himself to be sound on plot, setting
and characters.
T. A.
Williams, is the author of many earlier romance novels set in Tuscany, and Murder
in Tuscany, published in 2022 by Boldwood Books Limited, was the start of his
crime series featuring retired DCI Dan Armstrong.
Order your
copy of Murder in Chianti by T.A. Williams.
