Muerte por Góndola: Un asesinato de primavera en Venecia (Serie de Misterios Acogedores «Viajar Puede Ser Mortal» nº 8)

Travel Can Be Murder #8

by Jennifer S. Alderson

Venecia—la ciudad de los canales, las máscaras… ¿y el asesinato?

La guía turística Lana Hansen está disfrutando al máximo al liderar un viaje temático de Carnevale en Venecia, Italia. Su alegre grupo disfruta explorando el rico patrimonio artístico y cultural de la ciudad, así como degustando la exquisita gastronomía por la que la ciudad insular es famosa.

Su invitación a un baile de máscaras, con disfraces históricos y elegantes mascaras, debería ser la culminación de una semana perfecta. Sin embargo, cuando el invitado de honor es golpeado hasta la muerte, todas las miradas se centran en los asistentes—¡incluida Lana y su grupo!

¿Fue un manifestante ambientalista, un rival corporativo o un socio comercial descontento quien lo mató? ¿O alguien podría tener otra razón para querer muerto al ejecutivo de los cruceros?

Las cosas empeoran cuando el novio de Lana, Alex, aparece inesperadamente en la puerta de su habitación de hotel y le revela un secreto sorprendente—¡uno que lo lleva a ser arrestado por asesinato!

¿Podrá Lana descubrir la identidad del verdadero asesino antes de que la visita de su pareja a la Ciudad Flotante se convierta en permanente?


Serie de Misterios Acogedores «Viajar Puede Ser Mortal»
Muerte en el Un asesinato de Año Nuevo en Budapest
Muerte por Un asesinato de San Valentín en París
Muerte por Molino de Un asesinato del Día de la Madre en Ámsterdam
Muerte por Un asesinato de verano en Edimburgo
Muerte por Un asesinato navideño en Roma
Muerte por Un asesinato del Día de San Patricio en Dublín
Muerte por Un asesinato de Semana Santa en Sevilla
Muerte por Gó Un asesinato de primavera en Venecia
Muerte por Un asesinato en una fiesta de soltera en Reikiavik
Muerte por Un asesinato del Día de la Independencia en Costa Rica

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Travel, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller

259 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2025

About the author

Hi! I am an American expat currently living in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, I moved to Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. When not writing, you can find me in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning my next research trip.

My love of travel, art, and culture inspires my award-winning Zelda Richardson Art Mystery series, Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries.

Connect with me here on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, or my website.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reviews

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Lana Hansen is back and leading a tour around Venice, Italy complete with an invite to a masquerade ball. Her group is excited to pick up their costumes and masks as well as seeing all the sights in the Floating City.

When they arrive at the ball the entrance is surrounded by protestors but Lana is not going to allow that the hinder her enjoyment or the enjoyment of her group. She spends the evening dancing and partaking in the delicious food and drink but the whole event takes a turn when the host, a cruise ship executive, makes an unexpected announcement. Then he causes another disturbance that involves a member of her group. A short time later the man is found dead. Everyone who attended the ball is now a suspect including Lana and her tour group. This isn’t good – another murder connected to Lana. Her boss is going to flip!

As if Lana doesn’t have enough to worry about, a knock on her hotel room door reveals her boyfriend Alex and he has a huge secret! A secret that has the police trying to track him down for murder. The murder Lana is already trying to solve! Can she find the killer? or will Alex spend the rest of his life in an Italian prison?

All of Ms. Alderson’s characters are unique and develop well over the course of the story/series. Lana again is a fabulous tour host. This time without Randy by her side. Instead, she is training a new guide. Tom has had a lot of experience with groups in South and Central America and he has a very hands-off approach which just doesn’t work for Lana or Wanderlust Tours. She hopes to whip him into shape by the end of the tour. Lana’s boyfriend, Alex also makes a surprise appearance in Italy to shake things up.

The tour guests are an interesting group. Carmen Winters is traveling with her best friend Rhonda Davis. Carmen is extremely observant of everything happening around her while Rhonda is just delighted to be there and is completely taken in by what she sees and hears. George and Christy Fretwell are two lovebirds. She is beautiful and more reserved. George is more boisterous and tries to fulfill all of Christy’s whims. David and Kathy Windsor have a “little” shipbuilding business and they have brought two of their employees along on the trip. Brothers, Harry and Joe’s excursion is to reward them for their hard work and long hours on an order for an Italian company.

The author also gives the readers rich details of every place the tour group visits. Whether it be tourists coming under a bridge in a gondola or the wonderment of the masquerade ball at Sail Away Cruises to just walking the streets of Venice I was able to clearly visualize everything. She described the costumes at the ball fantastically too. I loved the moment a member of the group reveals his wonderful talent. It felt like an amazing moment.

While this book has all the delightful details of an awesome trip to Venice and eclectic characters, the murder mystery hits too close to home for Lana and it truly turns her life inside out. I really felt bad for her and was mad that she was thrown into such an awful situation. This story had a very different ending than the previous books. It was very emotional and tugged at my heartstrings, and that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it was a very good thing because we see a different side of Lana and it made her even more genuine and real.

Believable characters wrapped up a top-notch mystery make Death by Gondola a sensational addition to this series.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining travel mystery listening. 🎆🎎🎵

This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account book 8 of 9

Lanna is leading a tour in Venice, Italy. It is going well and the Tom the new assistant is doing well. The group goes to a party which ends with a murder. Alex her boyfriend is the number one suspect. Lanna uncovered the truth leading to the arrest of the killer. Things are not going well between Lanna and Alex .

I would recommend this series and author to reader of romantic family and friends relationships mystery novels. 2024

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thrilled to discover this new to me author and this fun series. I enjoyed the murder mystery as well as hearing about all the interesting places the tour is visiting. I like the tour guide Lana Anderson a lot. She’s genuine. Her friends and tour clients are fun and quirky. I highly recommend this book and the series. It is always a challenge for me to solve a mystery and this was also one I couldn’t figure out.

[Carey Mundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Latest In the Travel Can Be Murder series, this one takes place in Venice, Italy. Tour guide Lana has her hands full after a masquerade ball ends In the death of a man with many enemies. The plot thickens when her boyfriend is accused and jailed for the murder. Lana must work hard to help the local authorities solve this murder.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful descriptions of Venice make me want to rush back for a visit. Lana has her usual motley crew of travelers as they are preparing for a masquerade ball in a palacio when a murder occurs. All are suspects and to throw another angle into the book so is Lana's boyfriend. She discovers she doesn't know him as well as she thought.

[Steve Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artful misdirection

The descriptions of Venice ate so detailed that it feels like I'm there. The clues to discover the murderer are so well wrapped in misdirection that I was kept guessing until almost the end.

[Molly Spears · Rating 5 out of 5]

love these books

I love all the travel details and the good story. I usually stop and look up the places the characters visit to see what they look like. The plots are good and it’s hard to guess who did it. Good job!!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are almost as good as a travel guide--some of the descriptions make you feel like you have been there. The mystery was well written, I had no idea who the villain was. I hope Lana can get over her grief. Recommend reading.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah Venice. Magical city to get lost and find your love. Timely discussion of over tourism and reducing the size of ships allowed to visit.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn’t as light-hearted and happy as the previous books. I won’t go into why because of spoilers. The descriptions of Venice made the city sound amazing. I didn’t guess the murderer.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who killed Matteo and why??? A gondola statue??? Don’t ever wear the results of your thievery!!! I enjoyed this story and recommend the book.

[Paula Dunfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travel Can Be Murder

I have really enjoyed this series of books. Highly recommend hat you take time to or listen to these books.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as all of this series has been!

[Babs Wenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death by Gondola

This one was heart wrenching! Lana solved the mystery of course but it was a great price to pay. I cannot wait to read the next book since this was a cliff hanger!

[Hope Vollm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole Alex storyline jas this feeling high stakes

[Beth Helm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The action and adventure kept coming. This one was such an emotional roller-coaster.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Death by Gondola by Jennifer S. Alderson is where Lana loses her faith in love, but she seems to be stepping back from investigating.

Can Lana prove Alex is innocent?
Lana Hanson is in Venice, Italy, with her Wanderlust tour group and the newest company guide. The members of her group are all wealthy individuals, with most of them tied to a local shipping company Sail Away. They are enjoying the sights of Venice. They all attend a carnival masquerade ball where the CEO of Sail Away is murdered. Matteo Conti is not nice, but did he deserve to die like that?

Lana is caught in the middle as her boyfriend, unbeknownst to her, is a member of an environmental activist group that attacked Sail Away headquarters during the last hours of the ball. She is completely thrown off balance because of Alex's lies. She doesn't understand why he is lying to her, yet, she knows he would never kill anyone.

This seems like this may be the end of Lana's career. Will Dotty allow her to continue guiding tours when her clients keep killing others or are implicated in the demise of others?

I like Lana and understand her need to continue working as it keeps her mind off of Alex, his arrest, and their relationship. However, perhaps she should have let Alex figure out this problem.

The Mystery
Matteo Conti was your typical power welding jerk. He used his position with the company for his own gain and was a bully too. There are quite a few suspects, as Matteo ticked a few people off before and during the ball. However, Alex is still on the hook, so to speak, for the murder, as he was the one seen with blood on his hands.

Four Stars
My rating for Death by Gondola by Jennifer S. Alderson is four stars. The mystery is intriguing, but my favorite part of this book was the beautifully detailed sights that Lana witnessed. I recommend this series, but this one you may want to read in order as Lana's story unfolded more in each one.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Death by Gondola by Jennifer S. Alderson. Check out the other stops and giveaway if you have time.

Until the next time,


This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[Annette Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great addition to the series. Very enjoyable read. Would recommend.