3.5 stars

This was a readable if perhaps not memorable mystery with an interesting setting. Maggie White and her husband Burt are in Rome. Burt's job took him there, and Maggie was at loose ends after an abrupt termination from her U.S. job that she is embarrassed and secretive about. But, after becoming bored with the wife ex-pat socializing experience , Maggie has found something to sink her teeth into: she is the sort of manager of a high-end travel group that provides insider tours and experience for artists who want to see Rome but also spend some time with an instructor/artist.

The owner of the group is a semi-disgraced British peer who becomes the first murder victim. There are lots of characters who are nicely drawn: the Italian police, the local helpers, the tour group members, Maggie and Burt's social circle, etc. But Maggie was hard for me to warm to. Even for a cozy, it is difficult to figure out why she is so obsessed and nosy and pesters the police to such an extreme degree. She almost daily comes up with a new outlandish suspect with not much apparent logic. But, to her credit, she does eventually come up with the right solution. She is also uber-sensitive about her layoff from her U.S. job and it's hard to quite figure that out too.

But the setting is fun, and the culture and feel of Rome is very well done. A pleasant enough read. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was just what I needed, a virtual return trip to Rome, one of my all time favorite cities. Joining Maggie was great fun as she went from boredom to a new job to wondering how she would go about bumping of her odious boss. She forgot that old saying, be careful what you wish for - two weeks into her job working with artist tours somebody does bump off Lord Philip Walpole and the whole tour group, assorted others and, of course, Maggie, are on the suspect list. Not being satisfied with the lack of proper investigating on the part of the police, Maggie starts to do her own investigating. Armed with a vast knowledge gained from decades of consuming mysteries of all sorts - Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot for starters - Maggie is off and running. All over Rome. I loved every minute of it.
The mystery was first rate with twists, turns and some red herrings to keep me guessing wrong. Maggie is a real person with what I consider to be believable interactions for an ex-pat living in a foreign country. Not that I have ever been an ex-pat but it worked for this reader. I hope there will be more time spent with Maggie in Rome or maybe she can take a holiday from Rome and find another mystery or two or three elsewhere in Europe.
My thanks to the publisher Level Best Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Mamma mia! What a treat you are about to read! Promise me you’ll grab a saccottino al cioccolato with your cappuccino – you’ll thank me later. Jen Collins Moore’s writing appeals to the artist, the traveller, the sleuth, and the foodie and I’d rather you be wiping a crumb off your page than drool!!! You are about to embark on a new mystery series featuring Maggie White, an endearing and extremely relatable middle-aged detective, and a delightful cast of travellers on a luxury vacation in Italy. This wonderful debut had me hooked from the first page, making Moore one of my new favourite authors. Many have attempted writing in the Queen of Crime’s style, but few have mastered the essence of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marpole. I think Moore has done just that. Read for yourself; I think you’ll agree.

You’ll feel like you are on vacation with the seven eccentric artists in Masterpiece Tours because Moore’s descriptive writing pulls you into each scene. The book opens as the well-heeled tour group meet charismatic Lord Philip Walpole in his 17th-century palace on Piazza Navona. Yes, the famous piazza in Roman Holiday and The Talented Mr. Ripley! I love that the author subtly introduces us to each intriguing character while distracting us with the sights and sounds of the vacationer’s home base as Maggie White organizes the tour group. Readers won’t feel like they are bombarded with a list of people, rather a casual introduction to travel companions. Each day there’s a new sight to see and a perfect spot to stop and experience plein air painting. You’ll love how Moore fuses culture, history and mystery in this dramatic tale. There’s sparkling wit, red herrings, well-timed twists and a murder (or two) to solve in this intelligent and extremely entertaining read.

I immediately warmed up to the tenacious, savvy heroine and her husband and am looking forward to reading more about their ex-pat assignment. I also fell in love with Café Antica’s owners, Mario and Giovanna and I can’t wait to find out if they appear in the second of the series, Murder in Trastevere, due out in Spring 2021.

Italian Flavour.....
Maggie White, Amaerican ex-pat, turns amateur sleuth in this enjoyable cosy mystery set in Italy. Finding herself in the middle of murder most foul, can she save the day? There is no doubt that Maggie lets her imagination run away with her and has fanciful ideas but as a protagonist she is likeable and the cast of characters colourful. Altogether an entertaining read with a wonderful Italian flavour and a promising start to a new series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through my favourite place in the world to visit - Rome.
55-year-old Maggie White is re-establishing herself, downsized from her job as a marketing VP for a candy company, she's accompanied her husband Burt to live in Rome for two years, for his work. Not content with endless games of bridge and cocktail parties with the ex-pat set, Maggie has taken a job with Lord Philip Walpole, who runs small group boutique art tours from his Piazza Navona palazzo apartment.
Two weeks into her new job, and she's watching the Natale di Roma fireworks on the roof terrace, fantasising about all the ways she could kill Walpole, who's turned out to be an unpleasant character and manipulative boss. Within minutes, Walpole is found shot dead in his study, with Maggie, her colleagues Thomas and Ilaria and the members of the tour group all coming under suspicion. Maggie's a devoted reader of crime fiction, and thinks she can out-do the insouciant Italian carabinieri in solving the case.
She enthusiastically investigates Walpole's reputation and relationships within the ex-pat community, an apparently forged painting found in the palazzo after his death and the suspicious behaviour of several members of the tour group. The action takes us to many well-known Roman landmarks and neighbourhoods, as well as Maggie's domestic life around Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. Readers won't need any understanding of Italian language to enjoy the book, indeed Maggie's grasp of the language and familiarity with the geography of Rome is laughably deficient. Readers who are unfamiliar with or nostalgic for Rome may enhance their reading experience by keeping Google Earth on hand, although I note that the Bonaventura sculpture garden is fictional, perhaps inspired in part by the Villa Medici.
I felt that the character development, dialogue and excellent integration of setting places Murder in the Piazza at a higher level than many cosy mysteries. The twisty plot and relatively closed set of suspects will make this book appealing to readers who prefer more old-fashioned murder mysteries to gritty psychological thrillers, or enjoy both, as I do! While the behaviour of the characters isn't always particularly believable or logical, it's a fun book with a likeable protagonist, who I hope we'll get the opportunity to read more of in the future.
My thanks to the author, Jen Collins Moore, publisher Level Best Books, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title in advance of its publication.

Rome, pastry, art, and cozy mystery, this book had the recipe to be a wonderful escape. Although it was slow going, in the end, I enjoyed this book.

Maggie, a 50-something, ex marketing executive, is living in Rome with her husband who has been transferred for 2 years. To keep herself busy with something she deems "worthwhile", she gets a job with a small tour company specializing in art in Rome. One moment, she is planning her boss's demise, and the next he's the victim of murder. Maggie takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to clear her coworker and herself. There are numerous suspects, including guests on the current tour who are a decent cast of characters. And the mystery is enjoyable with numerous twists and turns even though I found it relatively easy to figure out. At times I found Maggie a bit annoying and the pace too slow.

However, I did love reading about Rome and the author did a great job of transporting the reader to the beautiful, old city. It was a nice escape and could become an enjoyable cozy mystery series.
3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

My thanks to Level Best Books, #Netgalley and the author for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This really was a mixed bag for me; there were definitely parts of the book I enjoyed then others not so much. The use of the tourism brochure toggle context to each chapter was delightful and I enjoyed the mentions of the various elements of Rome.

The characters who worked together to solve the crime seemed implausible to me, they haven't known each other very long at all, so didn't come across as a likely crew to solve a murder. I also struggled to relate to the lead character and her attitudes and emotions. She comes across as a woman struggling with a number of issues and her place in life. The stereotyping of the police and their role (or lack of it) also seemed a bit of a stretch.

There were some lovely twists and turns in the story and unsurprisingly things were not what they seemed.. Perhaps the characters will settle in the next instalment?

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Unfortunately this book was not for me. I made it through 40% and I just cannot go on. For a mystery this book made an excellent travelogue of Rome.

I’m a fan of murder mysteries set in foreign places, and so I was happy to receive an ARC of Murder in the Piazza, which is set in Rome, in exchange for my honest review. And I found Murder in the Piazza to be an enjoyable cozy mystery, but felt that it underperformed just a bit.

The premise is quite nice – the protagonist, Maggie, is at loose ends without a job while her husband Burt has an expatriate posting in Rome. So she gets a job with Lord Philip, who appears to be a bit of a remittance man, running a painting/tour company based out of his own spectacular apartment. Lord Philip is killed early on, and the plot unfolds from there.

Sadly, though, it was hard for me to really get into this book. Many of the characters seemed to be playing to stereotypes - the old school British thing, the gossipy ex-pat colony thing, the secret criminal thing, etc. And although the plot hung together pretty well, I felt as if there were a few too many suspects, and Maggie just sort of bounced around between them. (This made it a bit hard for me to credit that she had been a fairly high-powered executive in her earlier life.) In the end, there is a solution that works, but it felt to me as if it got solved almost by happenstance.

Still, the book was fun and I think the series has a lot of promise. I especially liked the amusing “blurbs” about Rome at the beginning of each chapter. These purport to be from the brochure for Lord Philip’s travel company, and perfectly capture the “make-it-all-sound-good” approach that travel brochure writers seem to use.

All in all, I hope that the author keeps going with this series, but maybe gets a different editor to work with on the next books, to tighten things up a bit. And my thanks again to the publisher, Level Best Books, and NetGalley for the review copy.

One of these days, I'm going to travel to Italy, but until that happens, I have to be satisfied with being an armchair traveler. On that score, Murder on the Piazza, the first Maggie White mystery, delivers a feast. The Rome setting is superb, and I really felt as though I got to know the city. I also appreciate art, so being in the midst of a tour that includes sightseeing in art museums and classes on painting was right up my alley. If only my reaction to the characters and the mystery itself had been as positive.

I found the whodunit aspect of the book to be easily solved. I could say why but don't want to run the risk of spoiling the book for anyone who decides to read it. As for the characters, I wish there had been more actual interaction between Maggie and Lord Philip. Being told how nasty he was in brief snippets here and there doesn't pack as much punch as actually "experiencing" it myself. Let me stand in the room with those two and see the man in action. Moreover, I feel that readers' enjoyment of Murder in the Piazza is probably going to hinge on how they react to the main character, Maggie White, and that's where I had a problem.

I found Maggie to be extremely judgemental, and it really put me off. She reminded me of so many executives I've not had the pleasure of dealing with who would swan into my store with their entourages, take a few seconds to glance here and there, and then proceed to rip everything apart. To them, perception is everything even though we all know how deceiving appearances can be. One thing that I found puzzling about Maggie is that she also seemed to judge people's breath. What's up with that? Does having cigarette smoke on your breath mean you're automatically a villain? This woman is so used to being large and in charge that she thinks she knows how to run everything, and the major reason why she becomes the prime suspect in Lord Philip's murder is that she keeps getting in the police detective's face and telling him useful information that usually implicates herself. If she didn't think she knows better than everyone else, she wouldn't be in such a pickle. This is probably supposed to be funny, but my funny bone was unmoved.

Even though Maggie and I would not get along in real life, I am happy to say that Murder in the Piazza is wrapped up in such a way that I'm almost tempted to read the next book in the series. Will I? I haven't quite made up my mind.

Former marketing executive Maggie White and her husband Burt are in Rome for a two year work assignment with Burt’s company. Expat life isn’t as exciting as Maggie would like it to be, so she finds a job working for a British Lord who hosts trips for artists. They say, be careful what you wish for and Maggie couldn’t have even guessed that during her first time working with a tour group she would find more than enough excitement. Her boss is murdered and Maggie becomes a prime suspect all for trying to help the local police who seem to brush off the murder as a robbery. Now Maggie has to balance the remainder of the group’s itinerary, a visit from her husband’s aunt, and clearing her name by delivering the murderer to the police.

The first book in a new series that has great promise. I’d love to see Burt and Maggie spend two years in Rome and move on to the next assignment. Imagine the fun and opportunities that could arise in each new posting. Being a former business executive and empty nester myself, I can certainly relate to Maggie on many levels. Looking forward to the next whodunit with Maggie and the gang.

This book just didn't work for me. I loved the information about Rome at the start of each chapter. I was hoping for a great Rome experience. However, the murder happens very early on in the book and then that's about all that's covered. When a cozy starts off too early with a murder, I feel like I'm thrown into the deep end. We haven't really met our main character or learned about the setting or other characters. I even checked to see if this was the 3rd or 4th in the series because I felt that there wasn't enough character development and maybe I'd missed it. But this is the first in the series. What we do learn of Maggie is rather boring. I didn't engage with her at all. There were other bits about Rome that were very interesting and I'd love to have seen more about that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

“Murder in the Piazza” was a welcome escape after six months where the farthest I’ve traveled is Appleton, Wisconsin. I’ve never been to Rome, but it is definitely on my list of places to go as soon as we can start going places again.

Jen Collins Moore’s debut novel, “Murder in the Piazza,” is described as a cozy mystery and I am not a cozy mystery reader so my opinion is not expert, but this was an engaging story with numerous plot twists that kept me guessing right up until the conclusion. Well-paced, with a believable ensemble of suspects – I mean characters. It was fun to read.

Maggie White, who is the lead, and who will be a recurring character in the novels that follow is a perfectly imperfect character, who I enjoyed following.

And seriously, the detailed descriptions of Rome – the architecture and the weather and the food, especially the cheese, made me want to book a flight right now.

Great writing. Excellent story and an excellent launching pad for the Maggie White Mystery Series.

Highly recommended.

Maggie White just started a new job, and she's already fantasizing how to murder her horrible boss, Lord Phillip Walpole. Maggie's husband Burt has taken a 2 year assignment in Rome, and Maggie is with him after being "downsized" from her job as an executive in a marketing firm. She is bored hanging out with the other ex-pats from America and England, so now she works for Masterpiece Tours, which offer luxury painting tours in Rome. Thomas Evans provides painting instruction and Ilaria DeMarco cooks fabulous Italian food for the guests at Lord Phillips palazzo in Rome.

After another day of painting, touring the sights of Rome and a delicious dinner the guests have gathered on the terrace to watch fireworks. As the guests prepare to leave, Maggie goes downstairs to let Lord Phillip know only to discover him slumped at his desk in his study, he's been shot. The Italian police are called and after a very short interview everyone goes home and the tour guests back to their nearby hotel. Maggie has watched many police dramas and is horrified at how casual and lax Inspector Orsini was when he arrived on the scene. She's convinced he won't investigate the murder properly. The next day when she arrives at Lord Phillips apartment John Aldrich is there, he's a young go-getter working at the law firm representing the estate, he's come to do an appraisal. Later that day Walter Jones arrives, he was asked to give an appraisal and opinion on Lord Phillip's newest art acquisition White Horse, is the painting a lost work of the Italian Impressionist artist Abbati? Maggie gets tired of waiting for Inspector Orsini to return and continue the investigation so she goes to the police station and learns that the investigation has bee closed, per instructions from his superiors.

As the days go by and Maggie continues to stew over the closed investigation, she decides it's up to her to find Lord Phillips killer. The group continues to paint and tour the sites of Rome and during an exclusive tour of a garden one of the guests falls from the top of a tower, was it just a tragic accident, or was it murder? Maggie's list of suspects is long, and as she investigates, she learns about a mysterious art theft mastermind named Pierre, and how Lord Phillip tangled with him on a deal gone wrong. Is anyone in the tour group working for Pierre? Are they the murderer? After several false starts and red herrings Maggie, with the help of Thomas and Ilaria discover the identity of the murderer.

This book was a bit uneven, sometimes the pacing dragged and Maggie whined a little too much about her former life. Maggie has a lot of insecurities, she was very intimidated by the fashionable and attractive women surrounding her, but seemed unable to do anything to change that and dress better. I give this a 3.25 rating, the mystery was fun, if a bit fluffy, with stereotypical characters that sometimes came off as cartoonish, especially the British. If you want an Italian getaway with lots of touring in Rome, art and delicious descriptions of food you'll enjoy this, just don't take it too seriously.

This was a wonderful "whodunit" situated in Rome. The premise of a murder taking place in a palazzo that is the home to an art tourism business worked throughout the story. I found myself Googling the historic landmarks and museums that were part of the the mystery. The author had me guessing right until the end with little clues left here and there to throw me off the scent of figuring out the true culprit. This was diverting, fast paced and fun to read.

New to me author. This was a fun read, set in Italy, so I was excited to read it. It didn't disappoint. Good mystery, great ending. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Loved the cover and the setting — Rome, glorious Rome! Had hoped for a charming Italian whodunnit, but MURDER IN THE PIAZZA with its slow pace and uninspired characters was not my glass of Prosecco.

3 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 22 Sep 2020

Thanks to the author, the Independent Book Publishers Association, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#MurderinthePiazza #NetGalley

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Not gonna lie the reason I wanted to read this was because of the cover and being set in Italy - my favourite place.

Really enjoyed this
Great story - unpredictable where most of these types of books have no surprises in

The setting is great, who doesn’t love Rome. However, I felt the central character, a mature, well educated, former executive was portrayed to be naive and unbelievable. Why does a tourist in a foreign country with no experience in law enforcement make assumptions she knows more than the police. A frustrating read for me.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I expected a Hallmark mystery movie storyline, but it became clear fairly early on that this was not going to be that type of book. It was unpredictable and kept me guessing the entire time. The protagonist had a tendency to just throw everything at the wall and see what stuck only to be believed with little persuading in the end. But overall, it was an enjoyable read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3548972349