Obi

Nathan Sutherland,honorary consul and part time translator is asked to help the famous conductor, Thomas Lockwood, and his gorgeous talented partner,Isotta Baldan, an opera singer, in their quest for a mythical,but unfortunately lost,opera of Monteverdi. But death seems to follow in the wake of their investigations...

The setting,Venice during carnival, is of course absolutely stunning but somehow I'm missing some personal link to the city. We get all the names of the calle,piazza's...but there is a certain warmth,a deep involvement lacking. The relationship between Nathan and his partner Frederica is a bit soppy,a lot of tesoro,mio cuore,caro mio(and I mean a lot!). There is also a lot foodstuff going on,but there again, I don't have the feeling they are particularly enjoying their food apart from huge amounts of Spritzes (basically vermouth/Campari,white wine/prosecco and sparkling water.) Yes,Spritz is definitely an on going theme!

It is an easy read and it is not a bad story as the mystery of a long lost manuscript is captivating but it is certainly not as sparkling as the already mentioned Spritz.