Signatures in Stone: A Bomarzo Mystery

Set in 1920s Italy, Lappin's first in a historical whodunit series offers an intriguing setup. Mystery writer Daphne DuBlanc has traveled to the town of Bomarzo, best known for a sculpture garden created in the 16th century called Monster Park, which contains statues "rumored to portray a series of monstrous, imaginary creatures, denizens of a pagan hell." Daphne is accompanied by her artist friend, Clive Brentwood, who hopes to immortalize the monsters on canvass, and his patron, Nigel Havelon, who also happens to be her publisher. But upon their arrival, they are unsettled to receive a letter from their host warning them not to enter the garden before his return. That ominous note proves to be the prelude to violence directed against Daphne herself. Lappin (The Etruscan) has a gift for describing scenery (e.g., the trio travels "along the sea through a land of silvery olive trees where innumerable dirty sheep dotted the meadows, and a rosy haze of blooms shimmered above low-lying peach groves"), but unfortunately that lyricism isn't matched by the disappointing resolution of her plot. (Apr.)