📘BOOK REVIEW📘
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙖
By Lisa Scottoline

Thank you @grandcentralpub @hachetteaudio @netgalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

SUMMARY: After the tragic death of her husband, Julia Pritzker receives an unexpected inheritance of a large fortune and a Tuscan villa from a stranger, Emilia Rossi. She wonders if Rossi could be a relative and travels to Italy to search for her biological roots.

In Tuscany, Julia discovers that Rossi was a reclusive woman with delusions of grandeur about her lineage. As she uncovers eerie similarities between them and their shared obsession with astrology, Julia grows increasingly paranoid, feeling watched, and even followed. Strange illusions and dreams challenge her grip on reality, and soon, she finds herself in an increasingly dangerous situation.

MY THOUGHTS: The title of this one is what first drew me in, reminding me of the gothic mysteries I loved as a teenager. Set against the enchanting backdrop of Tuscany, the vivid descriptions of the food, artwork, and even the decaying villa transported me to Italy. The storyline was rich with mystery -think hidden rooms, unseen eyes, and ghostly visits. The character development was noteworthy, though I found Julia a bit too pushy and quick to jump to conclusions. However, this did not diminish my overall enjoyment of the story, as I was thoroughly engaged throughout.

Julia has lost her parents and her husband recently. She feels like her life is getting out of control. Even her horoscope is bad. Then she receives a letter saying that she has inherited a Tuscan villa. The benefactor is a total stranger. Since Julia was adopted, she has no information on her biological family and wonders if the benefactor could be a blood relative. When she gets to Tuscany she finds the lady to be crazy but she can't believe how much they have in common. Strange things begin to happen. Julia is on a search for her identity that could turn deadly. This book is full of twists. Thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This was rough. Julia read like a teenager. The setting was fun but yeah I was very not interested in her at all and was annoyed a lot

I am a huge Lisa Scottoline fan and think I have read dozens of her novels over the years. And they’ve all been good because she’s so good at what she does. This novel was less legal focused and seemed so different than her other works, but was still good.

I will not give spoilers but there was a moment where I thought this book was truly jumping genres and that gave me much pause. Was relieved to find out that no, it wasn’t - it was a part of the plot line - and I was relieved!

I really enjoyed the overall plot of this story and the mystery of it all. I found parts of it to be a bit “out there” but overall I felt it was fast paced and enjoyable. Julia is dealing with a lot all at once and trying to find out not only who she is but where she came from - this along with the constant twists and turns made for a unique thriller.

4.5 stars!

I had the delightful opportunity to dive into both the audiobook and eBook of this captivating story, and what an experience it was! The narrator was nothing short of phenomenal, and I felt as though I was transported straight to Italy, soaking in the ambiance through both the pages and my earbuds. Trust me, you’ll want to indulge in the audiobook while reading; it elevates the entire experience to a whole new level!

Julia Pritzker, feeling cursed after the loss of her adoptive parents and murdered husband, spirals into despair when her horoscope seems to predict his death. She inherits a villa and vineyard in Tuscany from a stranger, Emilia Rossi. Curious about her roots, Julia travels to Tuscany, only to discover that Rossi was a paranoid recluse with ties to the legendary Duchess Caterina Sforza and a shared obsession with astrology. As strange occurrences escalate and she feels followed, Julia embarks on a perilous quest for identity, sanity, and survival.

The main character, Julia, is navigating a particularly rough patch in her life. You can’t help but empathize with her as she grapples with her grief, wishing for a glimmer of hope and a way out of her heart-wrenching situation. With each chapter, you find yourself falling deeper in love with Julia, who feels like she’s lost everything—and, well, she has! Just when you think things might turn around, they get even more complicated. Isn’t that just the way?

The vivid descriptions of Italy are a feast for the senses! Having visited Italy myself, I can attest that the author has done a stellar job of capturing its authenticity and charm. Picture yourself zipping around on a Vespa alongside these characters, sipping exquisite wine, and savoring fresh bread drizzled with olive oil. It’s an experience that leaps off the pages!

If you enjoy cozy mysteries filled with endearing characters and unexpected twists, this book is must-read. You’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat, anticipating what’s next while simultaneously cringing in suspense. The plot is full of surprises that kept me guessing until the very end. What a fantastic vacation read! It offers just the right blend of coziness, flavor, and a satisfying conclusion that ties everything together beautifully. Bravo!

Thank you, Hachette Audio and Grand Central Publishing, for the digital ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a fairly good read with a lot going on, but a bit slow for me. Some of what happened was also a bit predictable.

Julia is having a hard time in life with having recently lost her husband to an unsolved murder, and also losing her adoptive parents.

Julia gets a letter in the mail letting her know she is a beneficiary to a large estate that includes a villa and vineyard, but she has no clue who the person is that left her all of this. So Julia heads to Tuscany to find out who left her all of this and how it relates to her.

When Julia gets to Tuscany things begin to slowly unravel. She learns who the person was that left her the villa, and finds out more and more about her, including a lot of dark secrets.

Lisa Scottoline has finely woven a thriller that has it all! Mystery, grief, secrets, love, astrology friendship and magic set in Tuscany. Some parts are dark and unpleasant, but essential to the plot.

Following the murder of her husband, Julia receives an unexpected inheritance in Italy. In search of answers, Julia travels to Tuscany and is met with more than she could have imagined. Scottoline writes of complications and plot twists that keep you guessing and reading. This is an engrossing read about a woman who discovers her inner strength is stronger than she believed.

The Unraveling of Julia is a great read for getting through the summer doldrums.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lisa Scottoline has written another outstanding thriller. THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA took me on an adventure through Tuscany. After witnessing the unaliving of her husband, Julia then gets notice of an inheritance that she had no idea about. The inheritance is a villa in Tuscany. When she decides to visit the villa, things start to spiral out of control. This was a bit different than some of the author's other books and I really enjoyed the premise of the storyline. The narration was also excellent. I can recommend adding this one to your TBR list!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hatchette Audio, and Grand Central Publishing for my gifted copies.

This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) shortly.

Great, but flawed plot

I really liked this book. I listened to the audio book and it was very well done and fast=moving (I did listen to it at double speed).

The book opens with Julia dealing with her husband's unsolved murder. She then is notified that she is the heir to a wealthy Italian woman's estate. She goes to Italy to see her new villa, but mysterious events make her feel that her and her friends' lives are in danger.

The part that makes me want debate whether to give this four stars or five is the reason between the murder and attempted murders didn't make much sense to me. Without giving away the ending, it seemed a but far-fetched.

Also, and this is becoming way too common, the title doesn't fit the book. Julia doesn't unravel. She is a strong, albeit superstitious, woman. The title is catchy, but not indicative of the plot.

But I still really liked this book and will be adding it to my "recommended" list.

An enjoyable novel from Lisa Scottoline, although different from her typical thrillers. I enjoyed the fast-paced plot including the astrology and supernatural elements. There were plenty of twists and turns, keeping me invested in the main character, Julia, until the end. The beautiful setting and vivid descriptions of Tuscany were well done, adding to overall atmosphere of the book. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in return for an objective review.

Netgalley
Amy LaTour
​You​
A little slow to start but once you're hooked, it's hard to put down. The few supernatural aspects were odd but it was a good read. I stayed interested the whole time.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

I loved the setting of this book. I wish that I had inherited a villa in Italy! But not if it comes with the mess it did for Julia! This was very slow for a thriller. I never really felt too connected to Julia and I didn't like the way she treated Gianluca.

I went into this one with a lot of anticipation as her last novels were great family dramas with mystery thrown in! High expectations - you bet!

I’m going to go with Pros and Cons’s for this one:

PROS:
*Beautiful setting in Tuscany. A crumbling mansion and vineyard - lots to envision

*Interesting premise - adoptive daughter inherits a mansion and vineyard from a woman she has never heard of and goes to Tuscany to dive into the mystery

CONS:
*This was described as a gothic thriller and the only thing gothic was the setting. I wouldn’t classify it as a psychological thriller either.

*A main character that was never fully developed. We only know her from the brief description of her life before her world changed. She believed strongly in her horoscope and astrology, believing that it foretold her husband’s murder

*Repetitive and drawn out descriptions - unusual for this author i.e “she was an attractive forty-something with a short haircut and a slight build in a no-nonsense black pantsuit that comported with her somber, dogged and dedicated manner” This was just describing an attorney

*Blue lights and visions leading to Julia discovering secrets in the mansion. She apparently never experienced anything like this in her 30*+ years of life

I’m giving this one 2 ½* rounded up to 3* with respect to the author’s writing talent. I’m hoping this is a one off and her next novel with be amazing!!

This was a buddy read with Debra and Mary Beth, be sure to read their great reviews!

I received a ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Author Lisa Scottoline ventures into new territory with The Unraveling of Julia, trading her familiar thrillers for a work part psychological fiction, part historical fiction with a twist of a ghost story. Hitting bookstore shelves July 15, the novel follows Julia Pritzker, a recently widowed woman grappling with the traumatic murder of her husband, when out of nowhere she inherits a Tuscan villa.
Emilia Rossi, old enough to be Julia’s grandmother if she had one, has bequeathed to Julia, a total stranger, the villa, a depleted vineyard, and a large monetary sum. Julia is adopted so she wonders how a recluse in Italy could even know her name or her contact information in Pennsylvania.
Julia journeys to Italy to unravel the mystery and is stunned by her resemblance when the caretaker shares a photograph of Emilia. Evidence that a young girl once lived in the villa stimulates Julia into imagining that she could be on the trail of her birth mother. The crumbling villa is not enough to persuade her to sell it as a local realtor keeps trying to tempt her with the offers he has been collecting.
With the introduction of paranormal elements, the novel takes a turn with Julia discovering she has a “gift,” she suffers a shock when touching a photograph of Emilia on the Rossi crypt in the cemetery, and she experiences strange occurrences at the villa, including visions of a long dead historical figure, Caterina Sforza (1463-1509), an Italian noblewoman who lived during the Renaissance. Julia learns that Emilia had long believed that she was related to Sforza, so sure that she had a ceiling fresco created in the villa that featured the Sforza family tree.
The action picks up when Julia meets a librarian who helps her get away from people who have been following her ever since she inherited a fortune. Gianluca Moretti befriends her and becomes her companion as she tries to find answers about her inheritance and the possibility that Emilia is somehow related to her. Julia and Gianluca become attracted to each other but she pushes away her feelings as she buried her husband just a few months ago. When Gianluca has a terrible accident, Julia believes her pursuers were also chasing him. The local police are not much help, and Julia grows suspicious of them as well. With Gianluca out of the picture, Julia is on her own to unravel the Tuscan mystery.
Lisa Scottoline’s visits to Italy empower her descriptions of the Italian landscape and the various museums and architecture of the area. She has written more than two dozen novels as well as a couple of nonfiction books with her daughter. She has been drawn to writing historical fiction in recent years. She lives in Philadelphia with a menagerie of horses, dogs, and cats.
My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 30, 2025.
I would like to thank Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

A little different from what I am used to from Scottoline, but it was interesting. I got a little tired of the main character in the beginning but later it was ok

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Lisa Scottoline does it again. Grabs you from page 1 and gets you invested in the characters. Julia Pritzker loses her adopted parents and her husband. She becomes a recluse, until she recives a letter from Italy informing her that she has inherited a tuscan villa and vineyard. Only she has no idea who Emilia Rossi is. She starts to wonder if it will lead her to her real family, so she goes to Italy to find some answers. This is where it gets interesting she starts having visions and feeling like she is being watched. She doesnt give up and she ends up getting answers she didnt see coming. I highly recommend this book.

The Unraveling of Julia
Lisa Scottolini
July 15, 2025

Lately Julia has been feeling down. Recently her adoptive parents have passed. Her husband Michael suggests walking down to a favorite restaurant to have dinner. All day she almost cancels. Fear has been filtering through her thoughts. Something is about to happen, just stay at home, and have a pleasant meal. They gather their things and leave. The meal is enjoyable although on the way home the anxiety becomes worse. He knows she is concerned about something and questions her. That is at the point where the man in the royal blue hoodie rounds the corner. He pulls a knife and runs toward Julia. Michael lunges forward to protect her. He is stabbed through his chest. Her life has become empty. She spends the next months trying to resolve the tragedy.
The Unraveling of Julia will be published by Grand Central Publishing on July 15, 2025. I was able to read and review Scottoline’s latest novel via NetGalley. This latest chiller is an incredible journey into Julia’s future. She receives an official document from Italy. Certain it’s a scam, she almost throws it out but upon reading it discovers she has inherited property, land and a villa in Tuscany. Uncertain, she contacts the attorney. From then on this story becomes more exciting and mystical. Absolutely an exceptional novel!.

A little different from the usual Lisa Scottoline thrillers, this story follows Julia as she is failing to recover after her husband was murdered in front of her. Almost reclusive, with only best friend Courtney for company, her world changes when she receives notice of an inheritance in Tuscany, Italy.

She has inherited a villa and a fortune from Emilia Rossi - someone completely unknown to her. As she was adopted, she wonders if this person is connected to her birth family? Julia heads to Tuscany, and soon becomes embroiled in some dark situations. A local real estate agent is pushing her to sell the villa, she is being followed, she has dark hallucinations at night. What is going on?

She befriends a local librarian, who is then seriously injured in an accident. Is Julia cursed? There is a lot more astrology and clairvoyance involved in this plot than I expected, which I found a little weird. Especially as the locals in Italy seem to just accept that as reasonable considering Julia's behavior.

However, this was a fast paced and intricate plot, and it kept me very interested as we follow Julia's path in finding out the truth about her family, and who murdered her husband. A lot of twists and turns that I didn't expect!

This one was unputdownable. Julia feels cursed after her husband's murder and then she learns she has inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard and she heads to Italy in search of answers, as she is also adopted, so this could be related to her birth mother. There ends up being a lot of mayhem, both paranormal and criminal, and I loved the unraveling of not just Julia, but all of it. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.