All that’s to say that it feels like parts of this story have been done before, and recently, and perhaps for this reader a bit of World War II historical fiction fatigue has set in. So I found this take on that historic conflict to be a bit too much like too many things I’ve read before, in spite of the change in setting. In 2019 I had the good fortune to visit Venice and absolutely loved it. So, just the fact that this book was set there had me interested. Time changes everything. We can never fully revisit those people and places we've kept frozen in still life hovering in chambers within our memories.

The Venice Sketchbook (Audio Download): Rhys Bowen, Barrie

It should have been fabulous but I'm afraid I found it predictable, slow paced and lifeless. The events covered in the 1939-1943 segment were undoubtedly the more interesting but not enough for me to actually care about the predictable events which unfolded. I'm a New York Times bestselling mystery author, winner of both Agatha and Anthony awards for my Molly Murphy mysteries, set in 1902 New York City.In a duel story line, Juliet's great niece Caroline comes home to stay with her mother when her great aunt Juliet becomes I'll. Right before her great aunt passes she tells Caroline to go get a box with her name on it and to go to Venice. Caroline goes to Venice to take her great aunt's ashes. She searches for information on her great aunt during the war and uncovers a secret her great aunt took too her death. Pour a glass of Prosecco, make yourself a plate of tramezzini or some bruschetta, fill a little bowl with olives and let’s pretend we are soaking up the sun on the balcony at Hotel Danieli whilst reading Rhys Bowen’s latest masterpiece, “Venice Sketchbook”. Q: You've written over 40 books, many of them mysteries for which you've won multiple awards -- Congratulations on your success as an author! What made you switch over to stand-alone historical fiction? Another dual time line story. This one is easy to follow as each chapter is headed up with the person, date and place.

BOOK REVIEW: THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK | Military Press BOOK REVIEW: THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK | Military Press

A: I love writing my mystery series. It is comforting to revisit the same set of characters and give them more adventures. I like writing the whodunnit aspect of mysteries, but there were so many other stories I wanted to tell. I have been fascinated with WWII—I suppose because I was born in the middle of it, my father Their stories are linked, not just by the city, and not just by these two women’s relationship to each other, but also to a family that influences both of their lives. Caroline decides to travel to Venice, to scatter Aunt’s ashes and to see if there’s anyway she can solve the mystery of the keys. I loved the way she uses her Aunt’s sketchbook to follow in her footsteps. Truly delightful both the story and the writing. Using a dual time line pre and post WW11 (Juliet Browning) and 2001 (Caroline Grant). Both periods mainly set in Venice. Both involving our heroines falling in love with Italian men from a prominent Venician family. Caroline’s story felt shorter but was no less intriguing. What I didn’t like, however, was that it seemed to end quite abruptly. I was hooked by the characters and wanted to read more! What happened next? I felt this timeline needed another chapter (if not two) to properly wrap things up.That being said, I did enjoy this story. There are parts that are predictable and parts that are not. There are parts that are possibly unreal and others that are more likely to have occurred. There were times I felt it was going into too much detail and other times when I was nervous for the characters. Readers will enjoy the detailed descriptions provided by Bowen. She brings Venice to lifewith its amazing gondolas and canals, vaporetto, narrow streets, festivals, churches, art exhibitions, food, the colorful people, culture, and family ties. Love and secrets collide in Venice during WWII in an enthralling novel of brief encounters and lasting romance by the New York Timesbestselling author of The Tuscan Childand Above the Bay of Angels. They are also both at points in their lives when they are making fresh starts – and bittersweet endings. In the modern-day timeline, Caroline is led to Venice after the passing of her great-aunt Lettie. With only a sketchbook, a set of keys, and a few jumbled words, Caroline’s story contains a little mystery and a little love as she strives to uncover the truth behind her aunt’s deathbed whisperings.