Lisa Scottoline has just done it again! She has written another book that I couldn’t put down, once I started it! With The Unraveling of Julia, the mysteries were so complex that I began to question everyone’s sanity, even my own for being so paranoid For Julia, the protagonist. It was a Wild ride!

Poor Julia. She never really grew up with a firm family dynamic, and she experienced so much loss during her life that I would question reality, too, if I were her. The magic and mysticism that Scottoline sprinkled onto the pages of the were enough to take this gothic thriller in the realm of mystical realism, in the best way. Her appreciation of astrology was fun and added to the story in a way befitting a Tuscan tale with ancestral roots to the Renaissance.

After Julia loses everything that she held dear in her Philadelphian world, she is shocked to find that she inherited an Italian villa and acreage. With little to lose, she travels to Tuscany and is determined to find out more about herself, and to take a shot at her unknown (as she was adopted in the US) roots. When her DNA results come back with Italian ancestry, she feels justified in her assumption that the inheritance Had to be from some sort of relation.

Unfortunately, external forces seem determined to have Julia sell her property and go back to the US as soon as possible, even though the villa looks to be in absolute shambles. When Julia enlists the help of a local librarian, she digs in with her intense need to find out Anything regarding her heritage and familial origins. The external forces seem to take a malevolent turn, and soon Julia, the librarian, and even the villa’s dog seem to be targeted, but leave no proof for Julia to take to the police.

Will Julia’s hunches and vibes be enough to either get the cops on her side (or so save her own backside) from whoever is stalking her? Will Julia ever find out where she comes from and find anyone related to her that is still alive?

This crazy good novel will have you at the edge of your seat until you know the answers to these questions (and so much more). Go and grab a copy. It’s a fabulous and suspenseful good time!!

And if you’re an Eagles fan, there are Easter eggs for you to find all over this book.


Thank you So Much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this outstanding ARC!!

I absolutely love Lisa Scottoline. This book is no different. It’s very fast paced. Things happen so quick you blink and you’re like what has even happened. This poor woman. Is she crazy? We don’t know for awhile. I feel for her. She has things happen so fast she doesn’t know right from left. This gripped me from BMW Z4 because my favorite is the Z3. Definitely a solid 4 stars.

have been reading Lisa Scottoline’s books for years and most are books I could not put down. Sadly, this book had the opposite effect on me. I had to force myself to finish it. The book had some mystery surrounding the murder of the main character’s husband and the subsequent inheritance of a villa she received from a stranger in Italy. The story also took Julia on a journey to find her birth mother after the death of her adoptive parents.
However, for me, the story moved along slowly. It involved astrology and the spiritual world and neither is a subject of interest to me. I was unable to connect with Julia on any level and therefore, was uninterested in what happened to her in Italy as she tried to discover why she was chosen to inherit this villa and surrounding land and also search for her birth mother.
I look forward to other books by this author since most have been great reads!
Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book I could not put down loved it from beginning to end. I would highly recommend!! This isn't like something ie read before.

This is a great novel about Julia who watches her husband get stabbed and freaks out as her horoscope predicted it. Then she gets a letter that she's inherited property in Tuscany worth 3 million dollars so she immediately goes as she wonders who would be so generous. But odd things happen there: she begins having nightmares, a white Fiat follows her, and she "sees" a blue light surrounding a woman in her dreams. And since she was adopted she wonders if any of this could be related to her birth mother, Twists and turns galore so watch your back!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Julia Pritzker’s life took a sudden turnaround after she lost her adoptive parents, and then her husband was stabbed to death one evening as they walked together after an evening on the town. When she discovered that her horoscope forewarned her of his death, she feared that her own life was no longer in her hands.
Soon after, she received a letter informing her that she had inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard from a woman named Emilia Rossi. She might have been a long-lost relative, but Julia had never heard of her. Did she have family connections in Tuscany that she was unaware of?
Julia made the trip to Tuscany in hopes that she might have unknown relatives there. Instead, she discovered that Rossi had delusions of grandeur and believed she was a descendant of the legendary Renaissance ruler, Duchess Caterina Sforza. Julia is stunned when she sees from their photos how closely she resembles them.
Julia remains in Tuscany to sort out the details surrounding her inheritance. Soon, strange things begin to happen to her when she finds that she is being followed and her life is now in danger. Desperate to save herself, she realizes that the only way to do so is to uncover her genuine connection to Emilia Rossi and why her life is now in jeopardy.

When I see that the author of a new book is Lisa Scottoline, In The Unraveling of Julia, she goes off in a new direction. I was initially put off by the supernatural events that began happening and almost gave up on the book. It was still a mystery worth reading, though aspects of the story were very believable. ,

I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.

Did you ever have a premonition that something bad was going to happen and it did? That’s what happened to Julia. It’s fast, horrible and changes her entire life in a single violent act. That’s how page one of THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA, by Lisa Scottoline begins. Nope, not a spoiler, you can relax.

Well, you won’t relax too much if you read this book. Scottoline is deft at the tension element. After the initial high intensity opening, Julia is 6 months mildly agoraphobic trying to regroup and move on with her life. She’s supported by a best friend, Courtney, (my favorite character), and a little involved therapist. When she receives information that she’s inherited 3 million dollars and an estate in Italy from a complete stranger, Julia is off on a wild adventure that’s full of astrological promptings, danger and tentative romantic possibilities.

There are two main storylines once Julia arrives in Italy: what’s my relationship to the prior owner and who killed my husband. Scottoline weaves them together carefully adding threads to confound and heighten. The cast of characters are interesting but not particularly memorable. I found the decrepit mansion and grounds far more enjoyable and intriguing and I would have liked more time there.

What I didn’t want more of was the astrological aspect. That’s a personal preference but I found that it was too much for the story and became a bit far fetched. I wouldn’t make this an issue save for the fact this book is classified as Crime Thriller and Suspense and the too frequent horoscope reads and medium trope interrupt the story flow.

My actual rating would be 3.5 stars but I’ve rounded up because the book is really well written regardless of the astrology issue and I have a love affair with all things Italy📚

Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks

This wasn't my favorite of hers. While the premise and setting were cool, the entire thing seemed a little far-fetched. I also don't love the supernatural angle, as it seems kind of a cop out in lieu of actually explaining connections.

The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline begins on a dark street as Julia and her husband walk home after a late dinner. Julia feels a premonition just as a man leaps from the darkness and stabs her husband to death. Julia soon learns that she’s inherited a large amount of money and a Tuscan estate. She wonders if it might be tied to her birth family of which she knows nothing. She stays at the crumbling estate where strange, horror-filled images tied to her possibly being related to a famous Renaissance duchess interrupt her sleep and people follow her when she leaves the villa. Escaping her follower, she meets and falls for a kind Italian librarian who helps her research who she is. The amount of terrible things that happen to Julia and her beau along with Julia’s overdone nightmares make for a suspense novel that doesn’t know if it’s horror or a thriller. Too many unexplored bad guys, motives, and creepy scenes mar this one.

Julia's husband is murdered on the street in front of her and
as she struggles with an inability to go outside and restart her life,
she discovers that she has inherited great wealth and a villa in Tuscany.
So she goes off to find what the inheritance is all about from a person she has never heard of
before in her life.
The story has a wonderfully intriguing beginning but the supernatural overtones take
it down a path that rapidly loses appeal.
If you follow horoscopes and/or have an affinity for the occult, I am sure you will be very happy
with the turns the story takes.
By the time explanations start sorting the plot line out, interest has waned considerably.
Good character developments and the suspense, aside from the things that go bang in the
night, was good.
Really like Scottoline's previous work: this is the first so-so for me.

Another terrific novel from Lisa! Enjoyed it thoroughly.. sure to be a bestseller. Not my favorite of her myriad of mysteries, but clever and fast paced. However, it lacked credibility. A mystery to be believed has to meet a standard of believability. This plot was a bit far fetched. Nevertheless, it was easy to read and I would recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the eARC.
I'm not into astrology or the supernatural and although I felt for Julia at first after her husband's murder, the scenes with the hallucinations were boring to me, so I ended up skipping through them. The descriptions of the Tuscan surroundings were interesting and so were the parts about Catarina Sforza. But other than that I ended up rushing through the read without much enjoyment.

Having read and enjoyed ALL of Ms. Scottoline’s novels, I always look forward to a new endeavor. Although I can empathize with Julia, I just wanted to smack her and tell her to get on with her life after the murder of her husband (not a spoiler since it happens in the first few pages.) The story is somewhat interesting in connection with a bit of good luck which comes her way with a trip to Tuscany and a search for her birth mother. I am also not a fan of astrology and the supernatural which is prevalent throughout the book. This is not one of her better works and only made me yearn for Bennie Rosato and her Philadelphia law firm.
I thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to its publication.

The Unraveling of Julia is magnificola and a fantastica novel by Lisa Scottoline that invades your curiosity from the beginning and never releases you to the final epilogue. I was mesmerized and quite taken by the unraveling of the various plots within that are so entwined. A planned trip to Italy this summer heightens my curiosity of the country and places this novel describes and reminds me that Lisa is always one of my favorite authors.
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I really enjoyed this read. I loved the supernatural and historical elements of the storyline, but I was not as big of a fan of the real estate conspiracy theory plotline.

I was addicted to this suspenseful novel immediately. The writing was so intriguing from the first page forward. I enjoyed the characters and how Scottoline told the story. Can't wait to chat about it with others. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This talented author has written a page turner. Secrets and red herrings kept me guessing. This is a story within a story…the past meets the present…realistic characters kept the story moving quickly. Just when I thought I was settled in for a tale of suspense, more suspense was added…it kept getting more frightening. Would the protagonist survive? What really happened to Michael? Was the woman who left her an inheritance related? Was this main character adopted or stolen? Questions…enjoy unraveling this mystery. Thanks Netgalley.

This was a DNF for me. It was my first Scottoline book and I found the writing to be very basic and simplistic. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to try it.

Do you read your horoscope every day? Julia does and Julia is convinced that her horoscope is very real and if she had read it then maybe her husband might not have been murdered. Julia inherit a villa in Italy and doesn’t understand why because she’s adopted and knows nothing about her birth family. However, based on her horoscope, she goes to Italy to try and find out where she came from. This one took some twists and turns that I didn’t expect and I enjoyed reading it.