The sun is hot, the Aperol is chilled, the murder is ice cold…
Ah, my first ARC from NetGalley. This book was released on August 4th. Fear not, I did review it on NetGalley and Goodreads before the release. This post is just a little behind. (Okay, a lot behind. What else is new?)
“The sight of it, framed and brought here by his grieving child, floored him, and it took all his self-control not to cry out.“
Full transparency: A Taste for Murder is based on a British TV show on BritBox. The novelization of the show, if you will. The show premiered in the first quarter of 2026. April, if I remember correctly. That being said, let’s get on to the review.
Overview
Joe Mottram (DCI) is a British police officer who is on sabbatical. This sabbatical was taken due to his wife Sofiia’s recent death. Or was it murder? Joe is not convinced it was accidental, but the investigation did not bring up anything to suggest foul play. Don’t worry, he’s been studying the case files on his own. Deep inside, he knows something’s amiss. His daughter Angelica suggests that they spend his sabbatical on the Isle of Capri, where his wife was from and where her parents still live.
I would love to spend time in Capri! I’ve never been to Italy, but that sounds delightful. (Delightful, pfft! I’ve never used that word to describe something before. I must be getting to that age.)
On the Isle of Capri, Joe’s in-laws (Elena Da Vinale and Gennaro Da Vinale) own a restaurant. Gennaro is the head chef, and Elena is the manager of it all. That is the primary family business. Nothing could go wrong on this picturesque island. Yet, murder finds a way.
Man, even on vacation, your life is at risk! (I already knew this. After all, I am an avid true crime listener.)
Joe, much to his daughter’s chagrin, accepts the call to help with the new murder investigation. You see, the woman found dead is a British national. Since he is there, the police department asked if he could go and lend a hand to the Italian police. Not only that, but she is also the founder of a dating app worth millions. Though the fall looks accidental, something seems wrong.
Inspector Lara Sarrancino is introduced. She has recently been given the title of inspector. Being one of the few women in the force, she feels the pressure to prove herself. Needless to say, she was not happy to see Joe added to her investigation. A man, a British one no less, intruding into her first solo investigation was not in her plans.
These two must find a way to get along and work the case, because our murder victim was set to be married, and her fiancé is suspect number one.
Now, we have our story set up! (Pre-spoilers, obviously.)
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the Isle of Capri. Now imagine a murder taking place on your vacation, and you get involved. I’d be annoyed.
Review
A Taste for Murder has a revolving cast of characters; some are important, and some are one-and-done. Because of this, it can feel like you can’t keep up. However, only a few are important. Don’t let the amount scare you. But also don’t forget them! The moment you write someone off, watch it bite you in the behind. (I’m kidding, but at the same time I am not. There are red herrings and some that you know are part of something bigger that this novel will not touch upon.)
There is one issue I had throughout the book. Mind you, I didn’t know that this book was the novelization of a TV show. But as I read this book, there were times when I felt the chapters ended abruptly. It was almost like these chapters wanted to be a cliffhanger. It didn’t work because the next chapter started right away. Unless you know, I stopped reading for the day. It wasn’t until I learned this was a show that it made sense. I could put a name to the feeling I had while reading. The cliffhanger chapters read like TV episodes that hook you to either continue watching or waiting in anticipation for the next episode to come out. That’s great for a show, doesn’t translate as well for a book. The way a show is set up usually doesn’t work for books. That is also why this book has so many characters. You have an overall storyline with the murder investigation. Yet, you have tons of other crimes popping up here and there that Joe get’s involved with. Truly reading like a show that is action based, needing said action scenes to occur.
For a novel, it took on more than its humble length allowed to develop.
There is heart to this book, though. The main one is Joe trying to connect with Angelica. This did share the plot with the murder investigation. It’s a tiny heart, haha.
Joe has a lot to work through, one being that it is okay that he is reminded of his late wife, but he can also try to live happily. Capri is filled with reminders of Sofia, from the food to the way he sees her in her parents. Or to the photo his daughter brought with her on vacation. The murder investigation is a way to ignore those feelings. He, however, also ignores Angelica, who is as lost as he is. She lost a mother and a best friend at a time when she is starting to make big life choices. How is she supposed to know what she wants to study in university? Joe’s not a bad parent. He’s just disconnected due to his work. It was kind of ironic that he was on sabbatical to spend time with his daughter and family, yet here he is.
You get the feeling he feels guilt, but he doesn’t do anything not to be fully committed to the crime.
That’s great for us, though. He is a bloody good detective. (He’s British; I felt the itch to add bloody at some point.)
Food is a big part of this novel. Elena and Gennaro own a restaurant, and Gennaro seems to speak with his food. The descriptions made me hungry for some good Italian cooking. Even Lara shares a meal with Joe, which helps them reduce tension and see each other as fellow investigators with the same end goal. In other words, don’t be surprised if you feel hungry. (You know, I was reading this book, Butter, that I had to push to read another time that also dealt a lot with food.)
Overall, this book is not a complicated read. It’s a fast read. (If you’re not me. I’m a slower reader than I like to admit.) Yet the multiple action scenes popping up here and there take away from the initial murder investigation. There is so much going on, and obviously you need action for a TV show to keep audiences interested. For me, this choice of having so much go on took away from what we were promised in the synopsis. I already knew that Sofia’s death would somehow come back up. It did, not as much as I had hoped.
There was one thing that irked me. Gennaro is aloof and doesn’t show his feelings, which reads as him not being a fan of Joe. But he is hiding a lot of things. You can tell! Elena has to pry him into connecting with Joe, and even then he does the bare minimum. He’s a character I felt needed more development. Elena was great until she wasn’t. She pushed for everyone to get to know each other and connect because they are family. She is also British like Joe, but once she married Gennaro she moved to Capri. However, she then goes behind Joe’s back to talk with Angelica about her future. It irked me because it felt out of character for her to do.
Angelica has scenes that give you a glimpse of who she is. She’s a grieving daughter who also decided that, “Hey, I know my dad is technically a cop, but I’m still going to go with this boy I just met and trust him more because I am currently (and always, apparently) mad at my dad. Take that, father!” She does dumb things; that’s what I’m getting at. She is still a teenager, but I’d figure she would be more cautious due to her father being a police officer.
I gave this book: 3.25
GoodReads Review (If you want to read a shorter review, haha)
Spoilers below! Skip this section if you plan on reading A Taste for Murder.
As mentioned, the main crime ends up taking a back seat to the overall story. Joe’s character development is the main plot. He doesn’t stop grieving the death of his wife, but he can break that barrier with his daughter. Joe doesn’t have a healthy family background. Sofia’s closeness with her parents is not something he had. It took telling Angelica this for her to glimpse who her father is. This came in the last arc. By the end of the book, their relationship is on an upward trajectory.
Because the crime is not the main plot, it is actually solved quickly. If you pay attention. Shannon Headley is a businesswoman who signed a twenty-million-dollar deal to sell her dating app. Although she is set to get married, she is in an open relationship. Her father thinks her fiancé, Manny Sanghera, is involved because he wants her money. So, he had her sign a prenup before the wedding. This prenup was conveniently never filed before her death. And he was not wrong about Manny! It was him, in a more convoluted way.
He is suspect number one, with a good alibi. His alibi falls through when they catch him in a lie. He said he had never been to Italy, but he’s part Italian. Ha!
Through her app, she would match with men to sleep with. Manny did the same, so don’t feel bad for him. While in Capri, she matches with a man she doesn’t know is related to Manny. Shannon is no saint. Like most rich people are perceived in the media, she does drugs. Fentanyl, but her father said it was due to a previous accident she had been in. Which isn’t a lie, but Capri is apparently a bustling drug trafficking place. She was given a lethal dose and thrown over a cliff to make it seem like an accident. Her selfie was taken the day before; the date taken was tampered with. Good thing phones keep the OG information! Nothing a tech-savvy person couldn’t figure out. This said selfie is the reason why Lara’s boss didn’t believe that this was more than accident.
It took a bit to get all the clues together, but this is because, through the investigation, more bodies kept popping up.
This leads us to Zuzu, who was found dead at a party where she was waitressing. This involves Joe even more because one of the lead suspects is Luca, Gennaro’s nephew. Joe happened to be at the event because Lara’s family was hosting, and he had been investigating with her during the day. Joe did not expect to see Luca. Luca was surprised to see him. This was partly due to Luca being a suspect in the case of the man found tied in a fisherman’s net. He knew him, and Luca was the last person to have talked to him. Supposedly. They ran drugs together. Yes, Luca is a good guy but makes stupid decision. Like Gennaro!
Zuzu is found dead by the rocks leading to the sea. Joe saw a mysterious figure before the body was found. He knew someone was involved. But when he goes to ask Luca questions, Luca runs away. Joe follows him to an underground passage where Luca attempts to escape via boat.
This all ties back to Shannon and Manny’s relative. He knew Zuzu, which is how the culprits get caught.
Now, this is where my memory of the events gets foggy. This book packs a lot into its pages.
We have Joe and Lara investigating a bigger crime that is possibly tied to Sofia’s death. Angelica meets an Italian boy named Daniele who, from the moment they meet, gives off bad vibes. Of course, because he’s a drug mule. He does end up drugging Angelica and attempts to rape her, so he’s even worse!
All of this does tie back to a local Capri gang. A small Italian mafia. Rocco Di Biasi.
Some time ago, Gennaro took a loan from Rocco. He has paid this loan back, but they still harass him. Every so often, they show up at the restaurant. Gennaro always serves them free food. This is a big thorn in Elena’s and Gennaro’s relationship. Now, how is this tied to Sofia’s death? Well, they always leave a playing card at the crime scenes they are in charge of. Lara noted this once she looked through Sofia’s case file. A face card by the scene.
Joe doesn’t believe her until the restaurant is blown up. Luca almost dies, and then Joe finds a face card. Dun dun dun!
That’s it.
That’s how the book ends.
There is no closer to Sofia’s death, which seemed to play a bigger role earlier in the book. We now know for sure that Joe’s instincts were right. It was no accident. We also know that Gennaro may have played a role in this death, which explains his aloofness about getting close to Joe. Am I just assuming this? Yes. Because I believe Gennaro put his daughter in danger. He has guilt, but he’s so prideful he won’t admit to it. His lack of backbone to finally cut ties with Di Biasi by, maybe, idk, moving away? Is proof. He also excuses Luca’s actions. Look, Luca is dumb. Too dumb.
Angelica, while going out with Daniele and being too dependent on him, noticed he was helping traffic drugs. Daniele denied this, but she went and told this to Luca. What did Luca do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He didn’t tell Joe. He didn’t warn Angelica not to see Daniele again. He just brushed it off. His actions led to Angelica almost being sexually assaulted. So when Joe, rightfully so, gets mad at Luca and beats the crap out of him, Gennaro gets mad. Good sir, you may be the reason your only daughter is dead! Sit your ass back down.
Obviously, this book is part of a series because there are too many loose threads at the end. I was greatly annoyed. I thought this book was a stand-alone, and instead I got thrown into a convoluted crime world that left me with more questions than answers. I didn’t mind the ride, but I minded not knowing what happened to Sofia. WHO KILLED HER AND WHY?!
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