No More Brothers

A Serafina Florio Mystery

Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
144 Pages
Reviewed on 05/17/2012
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Lorraine Carey for Readers' Favorite

"No More Brothers" is such a colorful tale rich with Old World Italian culture. It is almost a murder she wrote- Italian style! This witty tale which takes place in the late 1800s will take you back to a small fictional town on the north coast of Sicily where Serafina, (say our Italian Angela Lansbury) is a mother, midwife and super sleuth. You can almost feel yourself there; as the setting is depicted in depth you can just revel in its Old World charm. The town seems to regard her highly for her investigative abilities. She does hold one family secret with ties to a step brother in the Mafia. She had helped the police capture previous criminals as she had a gift for this sort of thing. She discovers a dead body on the beach, that of the brother of the town’s shoemaker and begins her investigation to discover a mysterious soldier who is taken into custody. He quickly confesses to the murder as the town rings in her praises. However, her keen sleuthing intuition kicks in and sends her on an investigation where she uncovers clues to reveal who she believes the real killer is. While investigating she leaves her oldest in charge of her family who has to battle with their mother playing all these roles. Times are bad and she gets a small stipend from the town. There is great humor in the way she handles her investigation with the aid of her sons, and the town madame. I guess Serafina knew her resources! She even had a budding crush on the town’s medical examiner. I loved the tender moments she has when she talks to her deceased mother. As she finds out her suspicions were right she quickly goes into action and tries to thwart the hanging of the innocent accused. Nothing will stop her from nabbing the real killer and how she does this will amuse you every step of the way. The story has a surprise twist in the end, one you didn’t expect.

Susan Russo Anderson will have you loving Serafina from the jump as she makes her so earthly and likable. You feel you have known this character all your life. She writes with wit, humor and enough action to keep you intrigued all the way through. This novella has the makings of a great mini series!