A Christmas Mystery in Venice and Other Winter Tales: 3 Short Stories

Featuring sexagenarian amateur sleuths Etta and Dora, and Leon the (self-proclaimed) noble Basset Hound who takes care of them, this collection of three short stories is guaranteed to keep you cosy on cold winter nights. Follow the intrepid trio as they set off from their home in Southern Italy to explore their own country, finding new friends, exciting adventures and mysteries to solve wherever they go.

◆ A Tuscan Threat sees our heroes spending a chilly Halloween in a remote area of Tuscany, where they reveal a truth far more terrible than any groaning ghoul or wailing witch that ever haunted the dark autumnal night. Will they solve the puzzle in time to save a family from tragedy?

◆ In the second of the three tales, A Christmas Mystery in Venice, the adventurers arrive in the already beautiful floating city resplendent under the twinkle of millions of Christmas lights. But when a child disappears, festive cheer is set aside in a bid to follow the most cryptic clue they've ever had to solve.

◆ Finally, pull on your snow shoes for some Devilish Deeds in the Alps. A promise of a treasure hunt to find valuables reputedly hidden by the Nazis many decades earlier has our heroes and their new friends excited, but a close encounter with the demonic Krampus during the festival of St Nicholas leaves everyone shaken. However, the hand that attacks their host and leaves him for dead is decidedly human - has the evil of the Nazis come back to terrify the present?

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◆◆◆ Pair the intrigue of the maestro Agatha Christie with the humour of T E Kinsey, sprinkle a few feasts as yummy as a Joanne Fluke cake-inspired murder, and then season with the Italian flair for which Adriana Licio is renowned. The result is this delightfully heart-warming collection of short cosy mysteries, rich with Christmas cheer, a few Halloween scares and a plethora of mysteries to solve. ◆◆◆

Don't miss out on this feel-good companion to the wonderfully adventurous The Homeswappers Mysteries series.