An Enigma by the Sea

In an exclusive resort in a dark, threatening pine forest on the coast of Tuscany, the rich and famous are gathering at their second homes for Christmas. On the morning that a husband and wife from one of the heavily-guarded villas go missing, a certain Count Delaude is washed up, battered to death, on the seashore.

The cast list promises intrigue from the beginning. The count, a sponger and a sham had arrived under cover of dark with a beautiful young woman scheming to be a top model. Two comedians seclude themselves as they try to overcome a writing block. The depressive Signor Monforte, a retired academic, tries to woo a beautiful divorcee, while another, a woman this time, prepares to leave her husband. Two elderly spinsters and their Filipina maid are aghast at the awful predictions of their Tarot pack. The local police is inept, so Monforte finds himself in the role of detective, and is triumphant.

Author Biography

Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini were a well-known literary duo in Italy for several decades until Lucentini’s death in 2002. For about forty years they co-wrote newspaper  articles, literary essays, and published six groundbreaking and best-selling mystery novels. Their first novel, The Sunday Woman, was made into a film in 1975 starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The Lover of No Fixed Abode, Runaway Horses and An Enigma by the Sea were all published in English by Bitter Lemon Press.