Love and Death in Venice

A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery

Fiction - Mystery - General
246 Pages
Reviewed on 01/15/2016
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Deborah Lloyd for Readers' Favorite

Bonnie Hoover Braendlin’s first mystery novel, Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery, is a delicious and captivating read. Ms. Braendlin introduces two main characters – Ariadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan. They are best friends and college professors at Rutherford College in Florida, spending their summer in lovely Venice, Italy. Ariadne is teaching at the American International College, while Judith is volunteering at Speranza, a rescue center for rescued sex slaves. Both women are grieving a major loss in their lives, hoping time in Venice will bring healing into their lives. Soon, a cast of other intriguing characters is introduced; these include a severely beaten Nigerian woman victimized by sex slavery, a wealthy Mafiosi art dealer, a local detective, and other visiting professors.

The juxtaposition of the absolutely gorgeous aspects of Venice against the reality of sex slavery, legal prostitution, and criminal elements is well crafted by Bonnie Hoover Braendlin in Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery. This author clearly describes the Venetian maze of streets and canals through beautiful descriptive prose, and through the simple actions of finding a museum or restaurant. Anyone who has spent time in Venice, or wishes to visit, will be thrilled by her writing style. In the same way, anyone who loves a great mystery will enjoy her cleverly-written story composed of twists and turns, sprinkled with tangled webs of deceit and greed. This novel is quick-paced and full of action; it also encompasses love stories and relationship frailties. Let’s hope this book is the first of a new mystery series – where will Caulfield and Sheridan travel next?

Jack Magnus

Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery is a murder mystery written by Bonnie Braendlin. Ariadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan are excited over the prospect of their summer in Venice. The two met and are fellow professors at Rutherford College in Coowahchobee, Florida. Ariadne has taught at American International College in the past, and the summer session she’ll be spending there will be a bittersweet one. Three years ago, her husband died in a sailing accident on the Adriatic Sea while she was teaching a class. This is her first trip back to the city they both loved so much. There were no summer classes available for Judith to teach; however, she was able to obtain a volunteer position with a women’s refuge center that assists former sex-slaves with integration into their new lives. The Pensione Seppioline, where the university houses visiting professors, is centrally located and seems a comfortable place for the summer, but the two women are immediately concerned by the distress of Rachele, the housekeeper. Rachele is in hiding from a violent and abusive man from her past, and she’s recently seen him on the streets of Venice.

Bonnie Braendlin's murder mystery, Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery, is a fascinating and enthralling story that immerses the reader in the culture and environs of Venice. It also addresses the plight of thousands of Eastern European and African women who are lured into sex slavery with the promise of gainful occupation in Western Europe and the efforts made by shelters and concerned organizations to provide a support system for them. Braendlin's characters are authentic and complex, and her plot is nuanced and an engrossing blend of contemporary fiction, travel fiction, mystery and romance. Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery is highly recommended.

Faridah Nassozi

Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery by Bonnie Braendlin is a deeply touching story about the adventures of two friends in Italy for the summer. Ariadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan travelled to Venice for the summer, one to teach history at a college and the other to work at a rescue shelter. Despite the not so pleasant welcome into Venice, the two were ready to start their summer jobs. As the summer days start to roll along, the two friends will fully embrace their new roles and the city of Venice. Whether by mere chance or fate, they will meet lots of new people and form lots of new memories - some so beautiful and others gruesomely unpleasant - as their paths cross with people from both sides of the city; alluring beautiful Venice and the dark world of mafias and sex slavery.

Love and Death in Venice: A Caulfield, Sheridan Mystery by Bonnie Braendlin is a blunt story that illustrates the ever growing vice that is sex slavery, and gives voice to the plight of the countless women and girls around the world who are used as mere objects of this evil trade. The story also highlights the heroes who go up against this trade and risk it all to give these women a chance at a new and better life. Bonnie Braendlin put together a good cast of characters, each with a unique story behind them, which weaves into a memorable read as their paths cross. Love and Death in Venice is a combination of light, darkness, love, and pain, all of which Bonnie Braendlin blends into one gripping tale. It is the ideal portrayal of the two sides of Venice; the beautifully romantic side and the dark and dangerous side.

Alysha Allen

A Nigerian sex slave is beaten within an inch of her life, setting in motion a series of events that will uncover a dark, seedy underground, upsetting the seemingly safe, peaceful waters of the Venetian community in Bonnie Braendlin's Love and Death in Venice. Embroiled in these affairs are History and English professors, Adriadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan, who have traveled to Venice for the summer to lecture at the American International College and work at Speranza, a center for rescued sex slaves. Both are hoping to move on and come to terms with their troubled pasts, each having recently lost the love of their life. The Venetian mafia's connections, however, soon become inevitably apparent in their work with victims of sex trafficking, threatening the safety of everyone involved. It is then up to Caulfield and Sheridan to solve this mystery and bring to justice the men who have perpetrated these unspeakable crimes against countless scores of women.

Bonnie Braendlin's Love and Death in Venice brings much-needed attention to what is now one of the world's greatest crimes being committed against humanity, and the largest slave trading industry since the Atlantic Slave Trade -- sex trafficking. Her story realistically presents the dangerous conditions and violence which sex slaves must experience every day. Meanwhile, Caulfield's and Sheridan's roles in the plot serve to alleviate the heavier moments and inspire hope in what may seem an impossible problem to rectify. In effect, Braendlin shows that though distance and culture may separate us, we are all affected by this pervasive issue and must work together to end it, once and for all. This mystery will certainly engage readers who are looking for a suspenseful, social justice-based foreign thriller.