A Fine and Private Place

Sandro Cellini #2

by Christobel Kent

As Sandro gets to grips with the dispiriting realities of life as a private detective, touting for business among old contacts and following errant teenagers, an old case comes back to haunt him...

As Sandro Cellini gets to grips with the dispiriting realities of life as a private detective, touting for business among old contacts and following errant teenagers, an old case comes back to haunt him...

Once the subject of a routine investigation back in Sandro's early days as an investigator, Loni Meadows - the glamorous, charming and ruthless director of an artistic Trust based in a castle in the hills outside Florence - is found dead in circumstances Sandro cannot convince himself are accidental. However inconvenient his suspicions might be, both to Sandro - whose marriage appears to be disintegrating - and to Meadows's erstwhile employers at the Trust, he presses ahead with the case. And as Sandro attempts to uncover the truth of Loni Meadows's violent and lonely death, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the castle's highly strung community and the closed world they inhabit in the Casentino's isolated hills.

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

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2010

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

[Sonya L Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick summary from Amazon: "Loni Meadows is the beautiful, unstable director of an arts foundation headquartered in a crumbling castle outside Florence. When Meadows dies under peculiar circumstances, it becomes clear that almost everyone at Castello Orfeo would have been pleased to see her dead. Years ago, as a low-level member of the Florence police force, Sandro Cellini, now working sporadically as a private eye, ran a routine background check on Meadows, and he hopes that the tidbits he learned back then can help him determine who helped her to her death."

What I thought? Loved it, loved it, loved it and am furious that Ron Hanks who loaned it to me did not have the Cellini #1 book to loan me, too. (Oh, ungrateful friends who borrow your books and complain = serpent's tooth, I know!!)

It is an upscale manor house (Italian castle) murder, where everyone is suspect. Setting is lushly described, characters are fully formed and their motivations fully developed, reviewer-writer-speak etc, etc, etc. Just read the darned thing and you will see what I mean.

Now, I have to find "The Drowning River."

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detective novel, with the emphasis on novel. Yes, there is a mystery -- and a pretty good one, too--but the real appeal of the book is the novelistic development of some complex characters. There's a pretty good-sized cast and nearly all of them seem quite well-rounded with complicated motivations for doing what they do. And it doesn't hurt that it's set in Italy, too. I liked this book a lot and wouldn't mind reading some more by this author.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is also titled for the second edition A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE and is the second in a series featuring Sandro Cellini, a former member of the Florence police, now a private investigator. A very good read, as was Ms. Kent's first of the series, THE DROWNING RIVER. From Amazon: Loni Meadows is the beautiful, unstable director of an arts foundation headquartered in a crumbling castle outside Florence. When Meadows dies under peculiar circumstances, it becomes clear that almost everyone at Castello Orfeo would have been pleased to see her dead. Years ago, as a low-level member of the Florence police force, Sandro Cellini, now working sporadically as a private eye, ran a routine background check on Meadows, and he hopes that the tidbits he learned back then can help him determine who helped her to her death.


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[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are slow burners and I like that.

Sandro Cellini is a lovely, kind and thoughtful man. He doesn't hurry anything and he cares more than he should.

I enjoy the slow progression and the unhurried way in which he works.

I like the supporting characters. I especially like Luisa who I feel is a kindred spirit. Guili described Luisa as quick to anger - angry at herself, even if others don't realise that - and that describes me.

Sandro reminds me of mu husband a bit. Gentle and decent but no fool.

The mystery is always interesting, unusual and often brutal but the language used and the slow flow of the storyline lulls you into a sense of peacefulness and calm.

However, the author can generate suspense and drama. She just chooses to do it in a less confrontational way.

I am looking forward to another installment!

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sandro Cellini is not Guido Brunetti nor is Christobel Kent in the same category as Donna Leon!! Whoever made the comparison was way off base. Ms Leon has outstanding characters and brings Venice to the pages of every book. Tuscany played no part in this book that moved at a snails pace. It was so boring that at the halfway point I skimmed to the end. Good riddance.

As if the writing and the plot weren’t bad enough, the author is addicted to using colons and semi-colons, like it was a grammar test. I found it very distracting. I’ll stick with Guido and Donna for my Italy “fix”.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on this one and didn't bother finishing it. Initially liked it, but got bogged down. It seemed to move far too slowly for my taste and eventually decided I simply didn't care enough to keep going. Pity - she writes well, good dialogue and well developed characters, but after wading through lots of words the lack of story momentum became irritating. Almost split in two, between Cellini and Cate. She's interesting, he much less so.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Italian noir. Very atmospheric. Love this series, love our ex-detective, but this one was spoiled for me by the very poor copy-editing of the kindle edition. Lots of typos relating to where sentences ended. And the new one. Began. Weird and distracting, and there were enough of them to ruin the entire middle. Of the book.

[Sallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Italian retired police officer, Sandro Chillini, now a private investigator, is hired to investigate a murder of Loni Meadows. She was the director of an artist's retreat that was housed in an ancient castle in Tuscany. Unusual characters keep this a page turner. You will want to visit the Castle Orfeo to immerse yourself in this murder.

[Cami · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to say it but after the first 20 pages I just was not pulled in. I had to return it to the library. So sorry to say I guess this book just wasn't for me.

[Cristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't even finish the book, that's how much I didn't like it. I almost never stop reading a book, but I kept giving it another chance but could never get into it.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The second book in the Sandro Cellini series) I wish I had read the first book in the series, but unfortunately with the pandemic acquiring titles is sometimes difficult. I liked the protagonist Sandro Cellini and his wife and Caterina, a secondary character. I found the premise that as a private detective Cellini was granted essentially the rights of a policeman to live at the site of the murder and question suspects weak. Everyone agrees to whatever he wants when he has no legal standing. If you accept the story line the mystery had good character development, but put so many red herrings and secrets in the works that the reader has no chance of determining the murderer. I am a believer in the mystery structure that allows the reader, if attentive or smart enough, to figure out the mystery. I am intrigued by the character of Sandro Cellini, however, to give another book in the series a try. Kristi & Abby Tabby,

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started very slowly and Cellini seemed like such a sad character that it was hard to keep reading. But I persevered and the book did pick up in the second half. However, I didn't find the conclusion to be satisfying. If Loni thought the murderer was such a loser, why did Loni let that person participate in the artist retreat at the castle at all? If she had rejected that person, then she wouldn't have been murdered. It really didn't make sense. In fact, Loni didn't like most of the guest artists, so why did she allow them to come? Plus the storyline with Luisa seemed unnecessary filler. The only character I liked was Cate and we will probably never see her again in a future novel .

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandro takes on two cases- One: parents want him to follow their teenage daughter To see where she goes as they believe she is mixing with the wrong crowd; and Two: investigate the death of a criminal attorney’s wife at a remote castle in the mountains. The two cases are connected in that the teenage girl is hanging out with the son whose parents own the castle. Sandro’s methods of discovering the truth may appear slow, but he is patient and learns the truth despite opposition from outside sources.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow was this Booooooooooring! Cellini was slow, his wife emotionally distraught, the other characters (on an artistic retreat in an old castle) really erudite, and the innocent working in the kitchen. Unlike other detectives in Italy & France, you never get the sense that Cellini has much of a personality, he seems to be stuck & just drifting along.

Long narratives, very little action and almost as little dialog.

Will skip the series.

[Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky and unusual murder mystery in a provincial setting.
At times very slow going, but I enjoyed the writing and the way the author constructs her sentences.
She definitely has a fondness for colons and semicolons. I found myself reading some sentences twice and sort of “tasting” them before moving on. This was my first book by Christobel Kent, although I realize it’s the second one in the series. I’ll probably read them all.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book, the first I've read by the author. It started like two separate stories in two different locations. I knew that they would eventually meet up, but I am not a fan of this technique which I've encountered in several books lately. I continued reading and eventually was involved in the mystery death and how the ex-policeman/private detective resolved the story.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. 3 for the first 2/3 of the book which was slow and obviously, ponderously heading to a point 2/3 in where two of the characters meet. 4 for the remaining 1/3 where those two have met and the mystery part picks up. And also 4 for the relationships among the recurring characters - Sandro Cellini, his wife Luisa, their friend Guili.

[Karen Schnakenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this while in Florence and enjoyed being able to trace the locations. I also thought the main character was quite strong. As a police procedural, however, I found it to be somewhat lacking. If I were to read another book by this author, it likely would be because of setting

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed though confused by ending, had to reread it several times.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Even better than book 1. Really enjoyed it and am keen to start the 3rd book. Good characters and interesting plot.

[Janey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story, very well told. Builds the picture slowly but every page kept me engaged, the characters believable and the setting interesting.

[Chess Darby · Rating 5 out of 5]

You just can't help loving Cellini

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are totally believable and the plot keeps you gripped. I highly recommend this series.

[Colleen Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read. Interesting main character in Sandro Cellini. Love the setting. Absolutely recommend.

[AngryGreyCat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into this, boring and slow. I did not finish which is rare for me.

[Sara Aye Moung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric and intriguing

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book of the series. I was attracted to the stories because I read somewhere that this character/series was Florence's answer to Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti.

I love Donna Leon's books. I love the characters. I'm finding that I don't particularly like Sandro Cellini. He's certainly not the man that Brunetti is. The tone of the books is different from Leon's, more brooding I guess and I'm okay with that. I do like the stories, but Cellini is the problem. To me, he seems insecure and can be downright annoying. I've decided that his wife is a saint.

I haven't finished this book yet and I'm sure I'll try the third book, but I need Cellini to evolve a bit.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love "A Murder in Tuscany". It has all the elements I enjoy in a good mystery--the Tuscany setting for starters, plus a solid and likable PI, interesting support characters, and a dreary castle full of weirdos.

Christobel Kent's ability to define a novel by its sense of place is one of her writing's best features. Her skills are particularly fine at the end of this novel. However, some of the technical things she did this time around drove me to distraction. Totally my problem. I own it. Paragraph after paragraph, page after page of "he had told her" and "she had done" and "they had wandered" put me off track in following the forward movement of the story. No,no, and NO!!! Already.

The pace was off as well. Sandro didn't even get to the castle until midway through the book. The reader is expected to wade through too much stuff before finally being rewarded with some real story development.

As a fan of series, I embrace ongoing character development. Sandro is a man of low self-esteem and limited intuition. In this novel, he stews and whines to himself because Luisa, his wife of 30-plus years, has somehow changed. While she excitedly plans a trip from their home in Florence to New York City as part of her work, Sandro becomes jealous and small. He thinks she is having an affair with her boss, and as a result turns (temporarily) into the sort of husband a woman who has recently gone through a nasty bout of breast cancer doesn't need. Whereas the trip to New York seems to me like a great idea.

Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed the book. It's better than three stars, but not as good as four. The problems I talk about could have been fixed with some basic good editing. When Kent's writing shines, it really shines. Overall, it didn't in this novel. I will give her, Sandro, and Luisa another try and hope for better because I am cheering for all of them.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is the second book in the Sandro Cellini series. Sandro is called in when a contentious director of an artist retreat set in a remote manor is found dead in a car wreck. He had previously done some background check work for the foundation, and leaves his home and current surveillance job to his sometime assistant. He is having some relationship challenges with his wife during her recovery from breast cancer and has some worries about her relationship with her boss. He is also shocked to hear that she is going on a buying trip with him to New York. At the retreat, Sandro must piece together the interactions and past connections of the artists to try to figure out what led to Loni Meadows death and if it was an accident or murder. The book had an interesting cast of characters and did a good job of developing the main character from the first book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competently written, with a setting I greatly enjoyed, I nonetheless didn't love this tale of an American woman, director of an artists' retreat in Florence, who skids off an icy road and dies in circumstances that look suspicious. The dual-point-of-view narrative, shared by detective Sandro Cellini, and Cate, an employee of the institute, seemed contrived to me. Also, I'm getting tired of the device at the conclusion of a murder mystery where the author whiplashes us in the space of one or two pages among several characters who all seem to be identified as the murderer. Decently written, but to me not compelling.