A Party in San Niccolo

by Christobel Kent

An entrancing story that is one of the most absorbing examinations of the English in Italy since A Room With A View. Set during one week in springtime Florence, A Party In San Niccolo follows the events leading up to the seventy-fifth birthday party for Frances Richardson, a much-loved English resident. Around her, Frances' friends are gearing up for the party too: Frank, a disenchanted journalist; Jane, who runs an Italian cookery school for rich Home Counties wives; her shady husband Niccolo; and Gina, a beleaguered mother-of-three who has come to Florence for a break. Before the week is out love, death, family secrets and old memories will come to a head at Frances' party, with dramatic results...

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Italy, Audiobook, Thriller, Novels

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Christobel Kent was born in London in 1962 and now lives in Cambridge with her husband and four children; in between she lived in Florence. She worked in publishing for several years, most recently as Publicity Director at Andre Deutsch. Her debut novel A Party in San Niccolo, was published in 2003.

Series:
* Sandro Cellini

Reviews

[Mees · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but I was a bit puzzled by the overarching theme that adultery is okay as long as it happens in Italy, or something.

[Paul Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long and ponderous. This could have lost 100 pages without a detrimental effect on the overall story. Many of the characters are too stereotypical. It has also dated very quickly. Gina's failure to understand what a DVD is (or, lets face it in 2018, WAS) emphasize one of this books key faults. It was set in a contemporary Florence (of 2003) but seems, 15 years after publication, dated and anachronistic.

[Pat]

A long dragged out story. After 300 pages I finally got into the plot. Too many characters and too much description for my likes.

The story is bassed in Florence and around Sienna. She doesn't have the locations in the right order, but then she probably has NEVER been there.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m limping home to the end. Way too long, too much rubbish. I wanted to slap Gina and her hard done by attitude towards her children. Altogether not very engaging.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thriller with a realistic Italian background, although as first published in 2003 there are a couple of points that remove it from the 21C and the Italy that we know. The lira is no longer the currency and the wave of immigrants, although still a big problem, as I expect many of you reading this are aware, will often be of different nationalities to those featured. The depth of description of the ex-pat community in Florence reminds me in some ways of A Room With A View, although this is much more detailed and not set in 1908 but modern days. The author clearly knows and loves Florence and is not afraid to write about the drugs, corruption and prostitution that are part of the city and I suppose most big cities in the world these days. As far as I understand though Florence is not generally a dangerous place, just maybe a bit rough around the edges. She also describes beautifully the countryside outside Florence, in Tuscany and the Maremma, including Thermal Springs to be found in the countryside that I have enjoyed bathing in myself if not the particular ones described.

A week in the springtime in Florence, what could be a better way for Gina Donovan to unwind from the pressures of family life while visiting an old friend from university. Gina’s holiday turns out to be not at all the week of relaxation that she was anticipating as through her we meet the motley cast of characters that form part of the expat community. The main ones are Jane her university friend, who runs a cookery school, her successful architect husband Niccolo who has English and Italian parentage plus his daughter Beatrice. The aristocratic Frances a widow in her seventies is a character central to the story as is her Birthday party that is planned for the end of the week. Frank is the journalist within the community, although not a terribly successful one and young Ned, Beatrice’s boyfriend.

The plot is complex with many other characters besides the few I have mentioned. Within the first few pages we learn of the two murders but it is only the second body that is discovered immediately. Before the end of the week not only death but love,memories and secrets will all have intruded on Gina’s time in Italy. I think that is enough information to have tempted you if you like the sound of a murder mystery in an Italian setting. There is enough suspense skilfully built into the story that kept me turning the pages to make this a very quick and entertaining read.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband knows the author, so I was intrigued when he brought a couple of her books home. They passed the time quite pleasantly...

[Becky D'ugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this a few months ago, just before a holiday in Tuscany, to get myself into the spirit of things. However, I lost interest because it simply took way too long to really kick off. Did not warm up to any of the main characters either, especially Gina whose pathetic attempt at sowing her wild oats was more akin to cold porridge. Flimsy. Only gave it three stars for its Tuscan setting and some of the descriptions, and probably only because it served as a brief reminder of having walked those streets just recently. It was more of a who cares whodunnit.

[KeenReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this description of the lives and times of a group of ex-pats in Florence, Italy. Especially as their day to day lives were impacted by a murder of a young English serial visitor to the city that they all seemed to know. The author cleverly contrasted their day to day lives to the effects of the murder. This didn't focus on solving the crime, although it was solved by the end of the book, albeit with a bit of a plot hole. A key element in solving the crime was a CCTV camera that an Italian antiques dealer noticed, which would have recorded the crime. I really did not buy it that the police would not have noticed the camera, or would have not asked local businesses if they had CCTV cameras when they were processing the crime scene.
This was slower moving than crime books usually are, and it was much more focused on the characters than they usually are, but I enjoyed it for that reason. I also enjoyed her depiction of Florence: She contrasted the lives of undocumented immigrants against the expats and also portrayed the drug culture in the city. The Florence tourist board may not appreciate that, but she made the city of Florence complex and real. It was almost another character in the novel.

[Alan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging book that I felt took a while to get going and it's not one that I would call a page turner. The pace and plot certainly picks up in the second half, so it is worth persevering if you are in two minds. By the end though, I found I was enjoying the book and was very interested to see how it would end.

The author really brings to life the city of Florence and its surroundings. However, if I were being hyper critical, I would say there's a lot of content that bloated things out and that, for my personal taste, didn't enhance the story.

There are some good characters in the book and some interesting takes on relationships, but the title of the book and the thread of Frances' party seemed a little unnecessary and distracting.

There's a strong crime fiction, murder mystery here, which also spends time exploring personal relationships. It's worth noting that this may not be exactly the traditional holiday fiction that some people will expect from the cover and synopsis.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the Sandro Cellini series and enjoyed the characterisation and plot lines, I decided to look at the other books of Christobel Kent. I believe this was her first. The attention to detail and forming full characters is the strength. It’s a tale of deceit, sex and betrayal set against a back drop of the English community in Florence. The role of the police is minimal and it is the characters within the drama that the tale focuses upon primarily through the observations and interactions of Gina - a visitor to the area escaping family life for a break.
The story is reasonably paced interspersed with descriptions of settings and emotions . As a first novel, this highlighted the path head of a highly engaging. writer

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems to condone adultery. I do not. From about half way the narrative changes and just zooms to a low level, simplistic end. At the beginning the book is intriguing and uplifting. There is a different look at the unpleasant side of life but it is buffered by the Italian background and some interesting characters and events. The author certainly has a good go at how women and girls are treated and limited. She also looks at how men prevent themselves from thriving. As a subtext this is consistent. The murder mystery has too many characters and not enough character development.

[Claire Hackeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings the nitty gritty parts of Florence to life.

[Nicola Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. A good plot and quite atmospheric however some of the chapters were very long and didn't always push the story forward.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The story has a bit of everything, scenery,atmosphere,food, sex, drugs & rock n roll. Beautifully written too.

[Elsbeth Kwant]

A bit too dark for me, but well done

[Amy Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book a 3.8. Overall I enjoyed it and thought it was a good book although I thought it could have been shorter overall.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

A flaccid mystery with far too much that is irrelevant and a crime that is solved not by detection but by cctv. Realistic perhaps but thoroughly disappointing as a novel

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to be Donna León, fails to be comparable.

[Italo Italophiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Party in San Niccolo is well-written in a stately, traditional style. It rotates point-of-view using a 3rd person limited perspective, letting us enter the heads of the various characters. Most of the characters are British expatriates living in Florence, Italy. They have to deal with a murder and the fact that the murderer is one of their group.

The writer has a strong grasp of psychology, so the various characters' behaviors ring true. We are privy to their thinking processes. We come to understand exactly why they behave as they do.

To read the full and illustrated review visit Italophile Book Reviews
http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot...

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't seem to know what it was. Romance? Mystery? Crime book? Not badly written with a large cast of characters who are easy to track but, at times, it verges into the unbelievable. Why do people not ring the police when they need to, seemingly preferring to risk their own lives pursuing the murderer? And would Gina really have got involved in the way she did? Unlikely. For me, the book was let down by the risible denouement with Ned which made me laugh out loud. However, a light and easy read which will pass a few hours pleasantly enough.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I friend lent this to me on a trip abroad and it was fun travel reading. It is a murder mystery set in the British ex-pat community in Florence, with a little bit of a romance thrown in. I liked that it showed a more modern portrait of Italy that wasn't Hollywood perfect. There are drug problems, prostitution, corruption, and human trafficking. I liked that it explored some of the effects of globalization on the underground economy.

[Maggie White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book set in Florence. The descriptions are great and really help to set the atmosphere. Story of Gina who goes to Florence to visit with her old college friend and get away from her three young children and husband as feeling stressed. She meets a lot of interesting characters and gets caught up in a murder mystery. Although the murder is in the story it is not the whole story and that made this book different and refreshing.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be a good atmospheric book and it really was a good and gripping read. A murder / thriller but with the romance of Florence mingled with more sinister tones too. I could've read it in a single sitting if only I had the time! Looking forward to reading more from the same author

[Cerys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well written and although there were a lot of them I felt that I knew who everybody was and cared about a lot of them. I hadn't realised before I started reading it that there were murders at the centre of the story, which increased my pleasure in reading it as I enjoy mysteries. This is a book I would recommend to others, a real page-turner.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is extremely entertaining and holds my attention so far!

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful descriptions of Florence and the Maremma and it was interesting to read about the darker side to Florence (a city I love).

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really like the way she writes..good police who dunnit,with good descriptions of real italy,not the tourist dress up.

[Ray]

Brilliant

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of atmosphere and wonderful desciptions of people and places. At the moment I am on my third reading of it.

[Annabelle Heap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, comforting holiday read.