Julia Pritzker is struggling. Her husband was recently murdered, and both of her adoptive parents are dead. Then, she gets a shocking phone call and letter, telling her a woman in Tuscany has left a large sum of money and a villa to her. But who is this mysterious woman, Emilia Rossi? Julia was adopted, so could Emilia somehow be related to her? Julia heads to Tuscany to find out.

This was my first book by Lisa Scottoline. The premise of the book really drew me in. I found myself really enjoying it in the beginning. However, once Julia got to Tuscany, the plot seemed to slow down. This was definitely a slow-burn, which I don’t usually love. I did enjoy the character of Julia and the descriptions of Tuscany. However, the plotline was just a bit too slow for me. If you enjoy slow-burn mysteries, this one is for you. The narration by Maria Marquis was enjoyable. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

I was excited for this book, because I have been a Lisa Scottoline fan for years. But this book was just ok, to me. I love her family drama/thriller aspects, but this one felt more supernatural and unrealistic to me, which was a let down.

Lisa Scottoline’s The Unraveling of Julia is a breathtakingly emotional and fiercely powerful novel that grabs hold of your heart and refuses to let go. With her signature blend of legal suspense and deeply human storytelling, Scottoline delivers one of her most compelling characters yet in Julia, a woman caught between the trauma of her past and the complexities of her present.

I’m a huge fan of Lisa Scottoline! This book definitely reminded me of why. I listen to it on Audible while cleaning the house and exercising in my pool.
I would say that this is a mystery romance. Full of twist and turn that will have you on the end of your seat.
I give this a five star rating and wish it could be more!

I love a good mystery with a supernatural vibe and this was a good one.

The Unraveling of Julia was an easy and quick read. Julia was a very likable MC. I think Scottoline nailed the depiction of Julia's anxiety, grief, and confusion. The descriptions of Italy and the villa were so wonderful and vivid. It made me want to visit even more.

The story itself was intriguing and the mystery built nicely. It was a bit predictable at times but that didn't stop me from devouring the book.

My only real qualm was the love story. It didn't feel natural. I didn't feel the chemistry to justify how quickly it progressed.

That being said, the audiobook production was great. The narrator was WONDERFUL. Her accents and delivery were perfect.

Definitely worth the read.

After a night out, Julia Pritzker’s husband Mike was murdered by a stranger in a hoody on the street in Philadelphia. He died trying to protect her. Still grieving, Julia receives a letter telling her she has been left an estate in Tuscany by a woman named Emilia Rossi. Julia has no idea who that is but wonders if she could be family. Julia grew up with wonderful parents, both now dead, but has always known she was adopted and has wondered who her birth mother was and why she gave her baby up. She decides to travel to Tuscany to see the estate and learn more about Rossi in the hope of discovering more about her own origins.

The villa on the estate is in a dreadful state of decay and the surrounding vineyards have been given over to weeds. The caretakers welcome her in and cook meals for her. However, at night alone in the villa she has terrible nightmares and sees visions making her wonder if wonders if the house is haunted. A local real estate agent is pushing her to sell the estate and go back to America and says he has a client ready to buy it for a good price. However, Gianluca a handsome young librarian she met in Florence advises her to take her time to think about it. Meanwhile, Julia believes she is being followed by strange men and wonders whether she is in danger.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job of voicing the different characters. The gothic appearance of the house and surrounds was well done and the setting in Tuscany was also brought to life. However, I found the pacing of the plot uneven and even a bit repetitive. I also found the paranormal aspects and involvement of astrology difficult to believe and felt that Julia was jumping to conclusions about what was going on with little evidence, such that a lot of it seemed far-fetched at times. Nevertheless, I soldiered on to the end and I did like how the plot eventually came together to explain most of the strange happenings. An okay read but not the best I’ve read from this author.

I decided to read the audio version of The Unraveling of Julia. Julia is a few years into married life to Mike, a new lawyer. They live in Philadelphia and are happy. Walking home from dinner after a celebratory evening, Julia suddenly senses danger, just as a mugger tries to grab her purse. As Mike moves in front of her to protect her, the mugger kills him. Julia's adoptive mother died when she was quite young and her father was, at a minimum, not very attentive. The police are getting nowhere with the murder investigation. Her grief has left her prostrated. Her best friend stays in close touch, but she lives far away. And then, Julia finds out that she has inherited a villa, vineyard and large amount of money from a woman she never heard of. She comes to believe this might be someone related to her, possibly her biological grandmother given her age.

Ultimately, Julia decides to go to Tuscany and try to learn about the woman. She turns out to have been a recluse with in a small town that actively disliked her. Julia must consider whether to sell the property, stay in Tuscany, and overall to figure out what to do next in her life. Along the way, she gets assistance from a variety of people such as her benefactors' housekeeper and handyman, a lawyer handling the estate, a real estate agent and eventually, a nice guy who helps her out of a jam near the Uffizi in Florence. However, she experiences nightmares that are terrifying and connected to her benefactor's believe she descends from a famous woman Italian ruler. She believes she is being followed and has no idea why. She has smarts in many ways, but she has become hooked on horoscopes and these things happening to her seem foreshadowed at times. Little by little, she finds evidence that she looks a lot like her benefactor and that there is almost certainly something being kept from her, possibly about her biological family.

Scottoline takes us through a well-plotted mystery and a story of how one woman comes to terms with loss and with finding direction in a world that seems menacing for perfectly good reasons. I loved the writing and the characters, particularly Julia. The Tuscan setting was fun too. The friendship with Julia's childhood friend is great. Maria Marquis did an EXCELLENT job as narrator in this novel.

Julia Pritzker is a believer in the power of the horoscope. After all, it foretold the murder of her beloved husband- or did it? Reeling from this loss and that of her adoptive parents, she becomes reclusive and fearful until a letter comes from a stranger sharing she has inherited a home and vineyard in Tuscany.
Convinced her luck is changing, she flies to Italy to begin investigating what her connection is with her benefactor. Soon, she believes she is being followed and poisoned. Is this more evidence of delusions due to the trauma she has experienced or is this true? This nail-biting thriller is masterfully narrated by Maria Marquis who adds to the atmospheric and tense tone of this novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

2.5 It's been quite a long time since I have read one of Lisa Scottoline's books. I always enjoyed her legal suspense books.
Her latest book is The Unraveling of Julia.

Julia's husband has been killed and her life will never be the same. So when a lawyer lets her know that she has inherited a large home and financials she is stunned. But she doesn't know who has given this all to her. She packs for Tuscany to find who it might be...

Now, I can see how this might play out and I went with it. And again. Add some supernational elements and a quick new beau. I feel like everything that could happen, will. The the rest of the characters are all here for a specific reason. I had trouble liking Julia. But it's just too much happening. There were some points when I thought that this would a good time and place to wind things down. Instead, every action or event is rehashed.

The narrator was Maria Marquis. Her Spanish is excellent and she gave an excellent performance. She provided recognizable voices for the players

2.5

Very good stand-alone book. I don’t always like Ms. Scottoline’s standalones, but this caught my attention at the start and kept it. I liked the bit of the paranormal. Good characters. Great plot. Excellent narrator.

I listened to The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline as an ARC Audiobook. It is the story of a women who has always known she was adopted; she had a wonderful and loving family but always longed to know her birth parents and have a real connection to her past. She had a husband and a life she adored when tragedy stuck.

That is when Julia's like began to unravel, her husband was murdered. She received an inheritance from a long lost relative she had never heard of in another country. Her journey to find the truth became out of this world on a supernatural level. With lots of twists and turns Julia stops at nothing to find the truth about her husband's murder, her biological family and who is trying to stop her from the truth.

This book had some fun twists; at times the writing was a bit choppy.

I requested a copy of The Unraveling of Julia because it seemed gothic and I LOVE gothic stories. I was lucky enough to get both an ecopy and an audio copy so I went back and forth between reading and listening. The narrator was very good.

I loved the gothic atmosphere and the Italian setting! The mysteries woven through the novel were also engaging and interesting: FMCs husband's murder, FMC's birth parents, why was she left the huge inheritance and house, etc?

What took me out of the moody atmosphere of the book I was hoping for was the insta-love and the propensity to use some mysticism for quick resolutions without really developing those aspects. There were also some characters who were inexplicably horrible, which I prefer to have more explanation for.

For someone who always craves a gothic mystery, this one satisfies like a light snack.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Scottoline, and Hatchette Audio for the eARC. An amazing listen narrated by Maria Marquis. This was a gripping thriller with just the right touch of paranormal intrigue. I loved the atmospheric setting and was deeply moved by the heartbreaking yet ultimately healing journey the story took. A compelling and emotional read.

This book had everything thrown in, so keep your incredulity in check and just read it for what it is, an entertaining book.

Julia has inherited a dilapidated villa after thr brutal murder of her husband. Between meeting an amazing guy, trying to figure out what to do with her villa, a historical mystery, death threats, she has a lot going on and needs to figure it out before its too late.

The audiobook was well done, The pacing of the book was good and the characters interesting enough for me to finish the book. But I have to be honest, there were times when I set this aside.

#netgalley #TheUnravelingofJulia

A masterful tale that follows Julia as she tries to move on from the murder of her husband. When she receives a phone call about an inheritance from a person she has never heard of before, she heads to Tuscany to try and find the answers. Once she is there, she realizes her inheritance is in ruin, the land is worth way more than she thought, and weird things keep happening to her.
She meets people who are her new friends, others who act friendly but might not be, and she is experiencing things that she isn’t sure are real or hallucinations. A psychological thriller that will keep you guessing who she can trust, what is real, and who her family is? One person who helps her, tries to help her move on romantically, but she isn’t sure if she is ready. When things take a turn for him, she has a realizations, but it might be too late.
I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing who might be behind everything she experienced in her new life. Maria Marquis did a fantastic job narrating this book. She brought a lot of emotion and feeling to the words and I felt like I was experiencing the things she was. She was a new narrator to me, but I will listen to more books narrated by her. I received an ALC and this is my honest, voluntary review.

This book is different from Scottoline's normal thriller. She adds a paranormal aspect that keeps you on your toes! There were twists throughout as is typical for Scottoline. The Unraveling of Julia didn't disappoint! The audio was fantastic- shoutout to Maria Marquis!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC!

Great read for a YA conspiracy theory story. Ghost-lighting, psychhoticthropic drugs. Interesting backdrop and convergence of cases! I liked the feeling of the trust and distrust Julia experienced as she figured it out!

I wanted to love this book. Unfortunately it was much too over the top for me to love it.
Julia is happily married to Mike and she has a horrible premonition right before he is murdered protecting her from being mugged. Julia was adopted and has always wondered about her birth family. Her andoptive mother dies in a ridiculous way, All of a sudden she is informed that she has inherited lots and lots of money and a villa in Italy. She doesn’t know the person who gifted it to her as far as she knows.
Once she gets over her disbelief and flies to Italy and things just keep getting crazier. It seems just a bit too far fetched that she would come from such a rich family with such valuable property. There are lots of supernatural elements to this story. Julia appears to have some psychic powers. The characters she meets seem over the top and stereotypical. The bad guys seem like caricatures. She conveniently meets an eligible man too so a new romance can begin. Her best friend annoyed me. She talks like a stereotypical cool girl. She is somehow able to join Julia in Italy and stay for quite a while.. It seems like a plot device just to give Julia a side kick for her adventures while she unravels all the mysteries.
Too many loose ends were tied together in an unbelievable way. I was bored during the last few chapters and just wanted the story to be over. I was tired of her thinking the same things over and over again.
I listened to the audio book and I have to say that the narrator did a fantastic job narrating. Her Italian accent was flawless. She shifted seamlessly between characters. Many thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

Julia was adopted as a baby. Later in life, after her adoptive parents and suddenly her husband have passed, she gets an inheritance from a gal in Italy. She has no idea who this person is, but after discovering some stuff she suspects they are related. It’s about her figuring out where she comes from, mixed in with some new love, real estate manipulation. It was an ok book, not my fave by this author. Julia’s belief that astrology is a science or that she talks to ghosts were annoying.

This one grabbed me from page one and would not let go. I mean, who among us hasn’t daydreamed about fleeing our messy life and ending up in a villa in Tuscany? But let me be clear, this is not your dreamy wine and cheese escape. This is dark, twisty, and full of what is even happening right now moments in the best way.

Julia’s life is a whole mess. Tragic loss, possible curse, inherited estate from a total stranger, and that’s just the start. She heads to Italy thinking maybe she’ll find some peace or answers, but instead she stumbles into family secrets, centuries-old drama, and creepy astrology coincidences that made my skin crawl in the best possible way. Think gothic vibes with a side of fate.

Also, let’s talk history. If you’re into Caterina Sforza or even just love a fierce Renaissance woman moment, you’ll be into the way her story threads through this one. It adds just enough intrigue without feeling like a history lesson.

The romance? It’s there. It’s moody. It’s complicated. But don’t come here expecting a romcom. This is suspense with a red lip and a dagger in her purse.

And the audiobook? Perfection. The narrator nailed the tone, dramatic without veering into soap opera territory. Every chapter felt like a juicy secret being whispered straight into my ear.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Scottoline, and Grand Central Publishing for the ALC of the audiobook. I couldn’t stop listening, and honestly, I’m still not convinced Julia’s not being followed.