Bitter Maremma: A Leah Contarini Mystery: 1

Leah Contarini cant stay out of trouble. She doesnt mean to get embroiled in solving crimes it just happens. But not this time. Accompanying her folklorist husband Nick on his research sabbatical in Italy to study a Tuscan celebration Leah is safe contentedly working on an article for a travel magazine about the areas ancient Etruscan trails. One early morning she sets off on a simple hike to take photos for her piece. What could possibly happen? Well...murder. And Leah becomes a witness with proof. Barely escaping the killer and suddenly entangled in the local drug culture and the intrigue of family devastations Leah outmaneuvers Nick and police Lieutenant Cavour to pursue a series of random clues that lead not to answers but to a second body at the bottom of a refuse hole. Convinced the isolated trail of the Tuscan forest holds the answer to both deaths Leah sets off alone. In a last deadly encounter she learns two things: evil can slip into the smallest cracks and the love of a community can carry us through the hardest times.