Cold Tuscan Stone

Rick Montoya Italian Mystery #1

by David P. Wagner

Rick Montoya has moved from New Mexico to Rome, embracing the life of a translator. He's settling in to la dolce vita when a school friend who is now senior in the Italian Art Squad recruits Rick for an unofficial undercover role. Armed with a list of galleries, suspects, and an expense account, Rick would arrive in Tuscany posing as a buyer for a Santa Fe gallery and flush out burial urn traffickers.

But before sunset on Rick's first day in Volterra, a gallery employee dies in a brutal fall from a high cliff.

The local Commissario and his team consider Rick an amateur, and worse, a foreigner. And now they suspect him in the dead man's murder. While the Volterra squad pursues its leads, Rick continues to interview his list: a museum director, a top gallery owner, a low-profile import/export businessman and his enterprising color-coordinated assistant, and a sensuous heiress with a private art specialty and clientele.

When Rick's girlfriend Erica arrives from Rome to visit him, she rekindles a friendship with an alluring, maybe dangerous, acquaintance. Has Rick's role made him the target of both cops and criminals?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Italy, Crime, Art, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

David P. Wagner is a retired foreign service officer. Among his overseas assignments were nine years in Italy where he learned to love things Italian, many of which appear on the pages of his books.

After retirement he spent several years writing tourist materials for small Italian towns before deciding he wanted to add his own stories to those fascinating places. The result was the mystery series featuring dual-national translator Rick Montoya,

The eighth book in the series, out in August, takes Rick to Assisi and confirms his belief that you can't solve a mystery on an empty stomach.

David and his wife live in Pueblo, on Colorado's front range, with their cat Mitzi.

You can find out more about both David and Rick at the website above.

Reviews

[TXGAL1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read. The location is Tuscany and the mystery led by Rick Montoya takes us to the ancient town of Volterra. Antiquity fraud/thievery is suspected and Rick is tapped to find the truth.

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have tried a new series by an author I have never tried before. Cold Tuscan Stone is the first book about Rick Montoya by David p. Wagner. It was a good book and I will read more in the series but I'm not sure what the author thinks of Italy, I get a negative feeling by the way he describe how people interact and that surprises me since the series is all about Italy. I will see in the next one if he continues with describing it like this. The mystery was good and the characters was to my liking.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A laid-back mystery with some nice local colour that builds slowly and promises more than is actually delivered. Engaging but unmemorable.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Montoya has relocated from New Mexico to Rome where he is happily involved in his translating business. All is well until an old friend, now a member of the Italian government’s Art Squad, asks Rick to take part in an undercover operation in the Tuscan city of Volterra. It is suspected there is a team of forgers operating within the city walls.

David Wagner’s first book in the Rick Montoya Italian Mystery series is a delight. Rich in Italian history, culture, and food, it is also an entertaining story. The mystery is well-conceived and there are a variety of characters. One of the things I enjoyed most was the feeling of being immersed in all things Italian – food, history, culture, architecture… I always enjoy a book a bit more when I learn something new as well. Now, Volterra is on my list of must-visit places in Italy while I look forward to more adventures with Rick Montoya.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A first effort and it shows.
The book plods along for 150+ pages. mostly is a travelogue for Volterra, the town.
I easily guessed the guilty party when first introduced.
The main character is personable, if a bit naïve, but then he's not a trained investigator.
The girlfriend is an annoying bitch, wonder why the character is sodden with her. I hope she disappears.
The story did contain some good red herrings and such a good twist for the ending, though the final scene was not believable. I like the mentor figure of the uncle, I hope he gets more space. Hopefully the writing and story improves in the subsequent books.

[Sarka B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in Rick Montoya Italian Mysteries and I enjoyed reading it. The book is engaging. I like it is set in Italy and deals with art. I like also description of Italian food and wines. I will continue to read this serie.

[Ryan Macoubrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met local author David P. Wagner when he was doing a book signing event inside a nearby Barnes & Noble. He saw me checking out the books on his table, came up to me, started chatting, asking me some questions, and telling me about his books.

He's written a series of mystery novels where the main character, Rick Montoya, is an American living in Italy, working as a translator (English to Italian, Italian to English, whatever is needed). Rick is not a police officer or a detective, but over the course of the series of books he keeps getting pulled in to various murder mysteries which he helps to solve with his amateur sleuthing skills. Each new book is set in a different part of Italy, giving each book a different flavor and tone.

The author was very friendly and nice, so I asked him which one of his books he would recommend I read first, and he suggested I start with the first novel, COLD TUSCAN STONE, which introduces us to Rick Montoya.

In COLD TUSCAN STONE, Rick is recruited by the Italian Ministry of Culture to help them find out who has been illegally digging up and selling ancient Etruscan burial urns from around the city of Volterra in Tuscany. Because Rick is an American, he pretends to be a buyer for an American art gallery, looking for "special" art pieces which high end collectors would love to buy. As he begins his investigation, though, one of the contacts he's met suddenly turns up dead (was it murder? was it suicide?), and Rick was the last person to see him alive. Now Rick has this mystery to deal with while he's still doing undercover work to catch art thieves ... but thankfully he's in the lovely ancient city of Volterra, so at least the food and wine are nice, while he tries to solve these mysteries and stay alive!

That sounded good to me, so I bought a copy and got the author to sign it for me. When I finally got around to reading the book, I finished the whole thing in less than a day, almost in one sitting!

The novel is not too long, and is written in a crisp, active style -- which helps move things right along. It's filled with interesting information about the ancient Etruscan peoples and their art, about modern Volterra and its architecture and food, and about Italy and Italians, how they operate. So there's a lot of good information and colorful descriptions in this book.

But the book itself, while not bad at all, was definitely the debut novel of an inexperienced author, showing some structural weaknesses which more experienced writers learn to overcome.

Specifically, it felt to me that of the two mysteries at the heart of this novel (was the man's death a murder or suicide? and who is illegally selling ancient Etruscan art?), the Etruscan art mystery was not as clearly or as fully presented as the murder mystery was. The solution to both mysteries is related, and the solution itself was fine, but it just felt to me like the mystery could have been more clearly defined and presented and explored.

This goes for the main suspects in the art case, too. There are three major suspects in the case, but each suspect is given just one major scene each in the novel. They're not given a lot of space in the book to be their characters, they're just built up as suspects, introduced once, and then skipped over for the next suspect. I wanted to see more from each of them, and felt like if the art mystery had been explored more then we would have seen more from each of them.

I feel like if a more experienced author had told this tale, then the art mystery would have been explored a little more and the characters would have been shown a little more too, which would have made the book better, too.

There's nothing wrong with being an inexperienced debut author, of course -- we all have to start somewhere. (We can't all be Agatha Christie or Margaret Mitchell or Harper Lee or Andy Weir, getting it right the first time, right out of the gate.) I even hope to be a debut author myself sometime soon. It just showed a little more strongly in this book than I think it could have, and that's why I lowered the novel down a few points in my score of it.

But all in all, COLD TUSCAN STONE was a fine Italian mystery, fast paced, with interesting characters, beautiful settings, and lots of good information about Italy, Tuscany, Volterra, the Etruscans, art, food, and wine. It was a fun book to read, which is why I read the whole thing in less than a day.

3 out of 5 stars.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Are you going to do it Ricky?"
"What do you think?"
She covered her hand with hers and her head moved closer. "I would never presume to influence your decision." She paused. "But knowing you, I'm sure it would be difficult to keep you away from Volterra."
She does know me, he thought. "You didn't answer the question."
"Ricky of course you should go. It's your civic duty." He was about to smile when he realized she was serious. Her next comment confirmed it. "Italy is unique in the world for our historical and artistic patrimony. If you can help in some small way to preserve it, you must take the opportunity to do so."



~~A photograph of the city of Volterra at sunset, billed as one of Tuscany's best preserved historic towns. I can picture priceless artifacts being found in and around towns such as this.

First two sentences: Fall's coldest day brought a damp chill that seeped through clothing and skin, but the bearded man was oblivious to the temperature. He crossed his arms over his chest, bent forward slightly, and focused on the figures before him.

Meet Rick Montoya. His mother is Italian, and his father is American foreign service. His life has been split between the two countries (New Mexico while in the US), but he is now back in Italy, working as a translator. Now an old classmate, Beppo, from the American Overseas School of Rome is a high ranking official in the Ministry of Culture. His department is investigating reports of grave robberies in Tuscany.

But these aren't just amateur grave robbers. These particular robbers are selling Etruscan burial urns--priceless artifacts that are being sold on the black market for large sums. The Ministry is hoping to discover the brains behind this operation, and stop the outflow of artifacts from Italy. Beppo has convinced the ministry that an undercover agent is needed. Specifically, he wants Rick to pose as an art buyer for a large firm back in New Mexico. His duel citizenship and multi-lingual talents make him ideal for the job.

Rick agrees to take the job with encouragement from his art professor girl-friend (see the opening quote). He has never been to Volterra, and is looking forward to a paid vacation of sorts. How dangerous could the art world be after all? Read to find out!

My two cents: I enjoyed reading the unusual setting and subject matter of Wagner's novel. I didn't have a good grasp of the differences in Etruscan and Roman art, and now I do! But setting aside, the prose is average, and the story-arc bogs down, with all the action shoved into the last 50 pages. I agree with other reviewers who felt that we never really got to know Rick. His personality isn't really developed at all...actually, none of the characters have flushed out personalities. This is problematic for a first book that is intended to get readers hooked on a new series staring Rick. So given 2 stars or a rating of average, but with an extra star tacked on for the beautiful setting. Recommended only if you enjoy books set in Tuscan Italy.

Further Reading: A World History Encyclopedia article on Etruscan art. https://www.worldhistory.org/Etruscan...

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the setting of this book in a mountain village in Tuscany and the theme of illegal trafficking in ancient artifacts. Brought back memories of a display and presentation on this that I viewed in Rome in 2016 - so the story came across as authentic and contemporary. Reading was good, though perhaps a little more tension would have created a stronger sense of urgency. I will definitely come back to enjoy another adventure of Rick Montoya in his unofficial role as an undercover agent.

[Jim Sands · Rating 2 out of 5]

Armchair travelog

Mixed feelings...rather slow storyline & a highly unlikely police undercover assignment to a non professional or trained cop/detective. Romantic relationship was a total farce...boring. Interesting general location sites. Good for insomniac as it put me to sleep more than once.

[Lisbeth Zabihi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oplæser: David Colacci. Fin oplæsning til denne engelsksprogede bog med lidt italiensk flettet ind.

Jeg savner ferierejser til Italien, så for at komme mig over savnet, læser jeg nogle bøger der foregår i Italien. Og så faldt jeg tilfældigt over denne krimi. Hyggelig og underholdende er de ord der falder mig ind. Vi er i en lille by i Toscana hvor etruskerne holdt til. Så området er spækket med etruskiske antikviteter. Og det kan jo altså godt være svært at modstå, hvis man er en smule uærlig. Ministeriet for antikviteter sætter derfor en undercover agent på sagen. Der er en del restaurant besøg i hele bogens forløb, og vi får en fyldig beskrivelse af de retter der bliver spist undervejs. Selv nutellamaden til morgenmad får vi med i købet.

[Moshe Mikanovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice settings though nothing too sophisticated

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started off slow but picked up quickly. As opposed to many of the Italian locale mysteries, this one concentrated on art. as opposed to food and wine.

I enjoyed it and will read another.

[Victor Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

David P. Wagner in his new book, “Cold Tuscan Stone” Book One in the Rick Montoya Italian Mystery series published by Poisoned Pen Press introduces us to Rick Montoya.

From the back cover: Rick Montoya has just moved from Santa Fe to Rome, embracing the life of a translator. He’s beginning to embrace la dolce vita when school friend Beppo, now senior in the Italian Art Squad, recruits Rick for an unofficial undercover role. Armed with a list of galleries, suspects, and an expense account, Rick would arrive in Tuscany posing as a buyer for a Santa Fe gallery and flush out traffickers in priceless burial urns.

But, before sunset on his first day in Volterra, the challenge intensifies. Rick has one quick conversation with a gallery employee who dies minutes later in a brutal fall from a high cliff. Has the trade in fraudulent artifacts upgraded to murder? Are the traffickers already on to Rick?

The local Commissario and his team consider Rick an amateur, and worse, a foreigner. Plus Rick is a suspect in what proves to be the dead man’s murder. While the Volterra squad pursues its leads, Rick and the Volterra museum director continue to interview his list: a top gallery owner, a low-profile import/export businessman and his enterprising color-coordinated assistant, a sensuous heiress with a private art specialty and clientele. When Rick’s lover Erica, an art history professor, arrives from Rome to visit him, she rekindles a friendship with an alluring, maybe dangerous, heiress. Has Rick’s role made him the target of both cops and criminals?

Rick Montoya relocated from New Mexico and now lives in Rome working as a freelance translator. What a life. Now he has been recruited to be a spy to find what gallery is selling illegal traffickers. Then there is a murder. Rick becomes a suspect. Now we have to find out who really did it before there is another one. Get ready to try to solve a murder, which I am pretty sure you won’t be able to do, all the while enjoying the scenery of Tuscany as if we are on a tourist holiday in this stunningly beautiful town. Danger, art thieves, suspense and murder all figure into this highly complicated plot. Rick Montoya is an engaging new character that has flaws but is so likeable. “Cold Tuscan Stone” is loaded with twists and turns and red herrings that will leave you guessing all the while you are flipping pages to find out what happens next. I am so glad to have discovered David P. Wagner and am so looking forward to more stories with Rick Montoya.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Poisoned Pen Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[lilias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wagner sets the scene very well. He pays attention to the right details in Italy: food, clothing, history. The subject of art theft was also interesting. I liked the references to the man who was tailing the main character, Rick Montoya, showing up in scenes without Rick realizing it. Choices like that made this more than just your average book.

What didn’t work for me, however, was Rick himself. With this kind of series, the reader really has to like the main character, and we never really got to know Rick, with the exception of a few superficial things like where he’s from and his attraction to women. One thing Wagner chose to do, and I wish he hadn’t, was tell parts of the story from the points of view of other characters. This prevented the reader from building an attachment to Rick. I actually wished the series would focus on Conti. And, let’s talk about the women to whom Rick was attracted. They were practically the only women in the story; a story that had so many men it got confusing. I’d like to expect more, especially for just a recent release.

I have the second book, and I plan to read it. I’ve read several series that have gotten better with time, and this one does show promise.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a series featuring Rick Montoya, an American with an Italian mother and uncle in Rome. He is recruited by a friend from school who is in the Italian Art Squad to help uncover who is trafficking in the sale of priceless Etruscan antiquities in the town of Volterra. In addition to the mystery, we learn a bit about the ancient Etruscans who carved the beautiful funeral urns and sculptures that are being stolen and sold on the black market.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 9 chapters seemed to drag along as the scenes were set and characters introduced to develop the plot line but did it capture my attention at any point early in the story? Not really. I started this back in September and honestly only finished it because I was waiting for my daughter's plane to arrive this past weekend with nothing else to read.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel the setting and the cultural references place this book in an interesting genre. It is a murder mystery but also provides insights into the township of Volterra and the surrounding area of Tuscany in Italy.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent crime story set in Italy which became a lovely character in this novel. A couple good red herrings. An interesting new character. However, the resolution to the mystery/crime is stumbled upon rather than anyone figuring anything out (hence 3 rather than 4 stars!).

[Govno Nichevo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this was an okay read. Some nice descriptions of Italy, but the story seemed slow paced.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy start to this mystery series set in Italy

A friend recently introduced me to this author, David Wagner, when she added his most recent mystery in this series to her 10 best list for 2023. When we chatted about it, I was intrigued. The Rick Montoya Italian mysteries have things I relate to. Montoya lives in Italy but is from New Mexico (in the US). I live in China but I’m from New Mexico (still in the US). Montoya solves mysteries. I read mysteries. Hey, I didn’t claim there was a lot I personally related too.

This book, Cold Tuscan Stone, is a good intro book to the series. The first couple of pages are truly brilliantly written with tremendous subtlety. The entire story was decently paced. Midway through the book, it began to drag a little, though maybe it was my being sick at the time I was reading that part that dragged me down instead. Yet, by the end of the book, it had picked back up, about the same time my health took an upward tick. Coincidence? Perhaps we leave Rick Montoya to investigate.

I will say that as a follow up read, I just bought book 2 in the series and have already started it. So there is the hint to my impression of this book, even as I hope to regain healthy recovery. Much as Montoya hopes to resolve crime.

[Philip Guzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery . . . murder . . . Tuscany. . . and great pasta and wine during a day of investigation?

. . . that's what you get when you enter the world of Rick Montoya. . . half American . . . half Italian (which half will win out??), full-time translator . . . . and part-time detective.

Having been coxed by a college friend -- now an Italian policeman in the world of art forgery -- to do a bit of undercover work in Tuscany to find out who is behind the sale of forged art pieces that are suddenly appearing on the markets , Rick soon realizes that he might just be in over his head when a murder occurs on his watch and he might (or might not) be a suspect. . . Not to worry there is always a good plate of pasta with an accompanying matching bottle of wine to take the edge off.

I enjoyed this initial book because of Wagner's easy writing style. He combines interesting characters, and wonderful descriptions of life in Rome and Vulterra, Italy. . . A perfect mix of mystery, murder, and the underbelly of the criminal side of the world of art fraud.

Wagner is also at his best in describing the Italian countryside of Tuscany and the wonderful cuisine in this part of Italy. . . . I'm all in for the rest of the series!

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I previously read and enjoyed To Die in Tuscany which is a later entry in the series that features Rick Montoya. In Cold Tuscan Stone, readers meet Rick for the first time. He is from New Mexico, has an Italian mother and has moved to Italy where he works as a translator.

In this novel, an old friend of Rick’s, affectionately nicknamed Beppo, asks for Rick’s help in investigating what seem to be nefarious doings in the sale of Etruscan artifacts. Rick is asked to pose as a buyer and to infiltrate several sources of antiques to help with the case.

What I learned from the prior novel is that where Rick goes, murder follows, along with good food that is lovingly described, wine, and attractive women. What more could a reader want?

As noted above, this book offers an interesting plot, a wonderful setting and a likeable protagonist. Readers who enjoy the Brunetti and/or Montelbano series will likely enjoy the Montoya books as well. There are seven of these in all.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Mary Warnement · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid story and excellent setting. I was torn between 3 or 4 stars. I'm stingy with 5 stars. I choose 3 when a book is just as good as I think it should be, but I want to give this a little bump. I definitely want to read the next in the series. I'm curious to see which characters continue. I hope to see more of the uncle in the Roman police force. I love when the author makes us feel we're walking the streets and sitting down to eat with them and walk through the churches, etc. The final "chapter" about wine confused me a little. It was labelled "wine" but I think maybe we should have had a hint was an afterword. He listed the wines the character had chosen but didn't really say much about them other than repeating the name and region. Maybe the publisher wanted him to?

I've done a disservice to the author by going on about the afterword.

[Ray Hartjen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid first entry in a series. Like most fictional books set in the country, Italy was the star of this book for me, and the writer does a great job of setting the ready right in the heart of Volterra, an ancient town in the Tuscany region. Descriptions of meals, with wine pairings, of course, might have you booking a trip soon.

The characters are fairly well developed, but perhaps not completely compelling and engaging. Plus, the main character, Rick, has a repeated pattern of ending his thoughts with a question. More seasoned writing would have the reader understanding there were unanswered questions without just flatly writing it out. It's for that reason, among a couple of others, that I give this book a four-star rating.

If you're looking to get started with a mystery series, and one set in Italy at that, Cold Tuscan Stone is a good place to start.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like 3 1/2 stars. This was a new author for me when I picked up a later book in the series [Return to Umbria] and I liked it well enough to go to the library and get the author’s first one, featuring American-Italian interpreter/translator Rick Montoya. He is a personable sleuth, along with the Italian police characters. This first one revolves around art theft and forgeries which I always find interesting. The Italian settings are well described and of course the food plays a major role, although not up to the standard of Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series. But if you like Donna Leon and Camilleri, this series is an enjoyable addition to the genre of mysteries set in Italy.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

E-Reader. Mystery

Rick Montoya moved from New Mexico, he a translator, to Rome, Italy.


An old friend from a school asked Rick to do some unofficial undercover work.  To try & find the group who are traffickers in stolen burial urns.  His friend nickname is Beppo.  He works for the Italian government.  He is charge of anyone trying to steal & thing that belongs to Italy.  His girlfriend Erica said he should do this job.


Rick has been Tuscany for short time when man died after falling from very high place.  The man no reason to commit suicide.  He had worked for Voltterra Gallery.


There are so many characters to list in this book.

I will tell you there will be dangerous things will happen in this book.


I you will enjoy this book as much as I did! 

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should be exactly the sort of thing that I like to read ... sort of a treasure hunt, set in a relatively exotic locale. The investigator is a translator, dual citizenship Italian and American. He's got an uncle in the Carabinieri and is asked to pose as a buyer for an American gallery to try to suss out which dealer in the ancient town of Volterra is selling actual Etruscan artifacts, vs high quality reproductions.

But the writing is pedestrian. The guy is in his head all the time and his thought processes don't feel realistic. There's a lot of walking around and describing things or talking about them and very little doing. So, basically, just kind of boring to read. Got to about 20% but a DNF for me.

[giveusaclue · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in a series introducing Rick Montoya an Italian American translator living in Rome. He is asked by an old college friend to help investigate the theft and sale of Etruscan artifacts in the town of Volterra in Tuscany. This is not the most likely premise. Rick goes to the town where he is not that welcome with the local police commissioner. He poses as someone interested in buying and exporting legal artifacts to a gallery in America and gradually drops the hint that he may be interested in less legal ones.

The premise is not a very likely one, and the book is not very deep, but it is pleasant enough reading. I will probably read the next just to see where he goes from there.

[LaRue · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cold Tucson Stone" by David P. Wagner ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you're looking for an out of country book, this one will take you all the way to Rome! The culture of this book leaps off the page and keeps the book interesting. The main character tracks down stolen old art pieces that are shipped and smuggled out via black market. Each of the pieces have beautiful history attached. As you can see, I met the author and he spent 9 years in Italy so he does know what he's talking about as he describes the land. He's learned a lot and I'm so proud I got to meet him.

The only thing to say for this book, is that its a quick read. I would have loved it more if it were a bit of a longer book. But for these reasons, I rate the book a very cute and readable 5/5 stars.