Capriccio

by Joan Smith

Cassie Newton is spending the summer with her famous violinist uncle, Victor Mazzini. When he disappears before his concert, she is helped in her search by an American hardware store owner—or is he what he claims to be? A missing Stradivarius violin, an empty violin case, a heist from an Italian villa—all fit into this delightful puzzle. Contemporary Romantic Suspense by Joan Smith; originally published by Jove

Genres: Mystery

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1983

About the author

Joan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant

Reviews

[Grace*dnfing books since 2022* · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is really not historical as it is dated, b/c I believe this was written in the 70s. However, my main dislike of the book is my dislike of the main character. I didn't dislike her immediately, but as the book unfolded, I started to despise her more and more, even though I wanted to finish the book. She was snooty (without reason), and despite the fact that she wasn't herself of great background, she seemed to look down on people with lesser occupations (although she was a museum guide). I mean, seriously. I don't know if it reflects upon the mores of the time, but that was so annoying that I ended up hating the book. She also made comments on various people's appearances as well as judged people based on what they wore. Basically, the book was in first person and maybe the author was trying to give a description of the other characters, but it made the main character come off superficial and money-grubbing. In the end, she ends up with one of the guys, and her comment was somewhere along the lines of "well, at least he's not just a Joe Blow so that I can live out the life that I dreamed of and can rub shoulders with the elite." SERIOUSLY??? UGH. If this reflects upon the attitude of the author, then this is one person that I do NOT want to befriend.

I read a lot of her other historicals prior to this book, but this one annoyed me so much that it will be the last one.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice old-fashioned romantic mystery. 2.5 stars for me. Would have been higher but I found the plot improbable and the heroine old-fashioned and dippy. This was an older book and you could tell in the supposedly modern heroine who kept needing to be rescued and/or taken care of by men.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars