Wednesday, April 27, 2022

The Watchman of Rothenburg Dies by Adriana Licio

 
First Lines: "Do you really mean we should go through there?" Concetta Natale Passolina, known simply as Etta to her friends, stopped the old yellow Fiat 500 in the middle of the road, careless of the traffic behind them.
 
Two newly retired teachers find themselves traveling from southern Italy to Rothenburg, Germany for a month-long vacation, courtesy of something called homeswapping. Etta still doesn't know how she let Dora talk her into this scheme, and she's certainly not a fan of letting strangers stay in her own home. But she has to admit that the Rothenburg house is perfect and they have friendly, helpful neighbors.
 
The two women are enjoying their daily forays into the town; there is so much to see and do. Signing up for a tour led by the Night Watchman of Rothenburg, Dora and Etta are stunned when they find his body while other members of the tour group are taking photographs nearby. A second murder leads the police to their prime suspect: the son of the two women's next-door neighbors. Etta and Dora can't believe the young man had anything to do with the killings, so both decide to add a bit of sleuthing to their holiday plans.
 
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Most cozy readers know that there's a bit of formula to this niche of mysteries. One of the "rules" seems to be that the amateur sleuth tends to live in a small town and all the murdering and sleuthing happens there. Then I stumbled across Adriana Licio's first Homeswapper mystery, The Watchman of Rothenburg Dies, in which two retired teachers solve a crime while on vacation in Germany. That really piqued my interest because not only would a series like this solve the age-old problem of "Cabot Cove Syndrome," it would give me a chance to learn about other places, and that would certainly please my inner armchair traveling sleuth.
 
Dora and Etta are two recent retirees who have little money yet a great desire to travel and see the world. Dora, the empathetic and intuitive one, learns about homeswapping and persuades Etta, the extremely judgmental one, into participating. It's perfect for their needs. They save money yet get to stay in a nice home for an extended period of time which lets them really explore an area.
 
This first book in the Homeswapper series kept my interest throughout, and I enjoyed following the two as they roamed the medieval streets of Rothenburg. I learned about several things, like shame masks, and I was perversely delighted to watch Etta (who tended to rub my fur the wrong way) have to put up with the addition of Leon the Basset Hound to their merry little band.

I'm definitely going to be taking a look at the other books in this series to see where Etta and Dora continue their travels.

The Watchman of Rothenburg Dies by Adriana Licio
ASIN: B08DD8C46D
The Hometravellers Press © 2020
eBook, 180 pages
 
Cozy Mystery, #1 Homeswappers mystery
Rating: B
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

9 comments:

  1. Oh, that does sound like an interesting premise for a story, Cathy! And it is a very effective way to avoid the Cabot Cove Syndrome. It's an interesting setting, too. Hmm....... Next time I'm ready for a lighter book, I may have to check this author out!

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  2. This one sounds like 'huge' fun. Like you I'm an armchair traveller so I shall add it to my 'want to read' shelf on Goodreads.

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  3. Leon the Bassett Hound! What a great name for a dog. This sounds like fun.

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    1. Actually... Leon is short for Napoleon. :-)

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    2. The name Lark is lovely. Helen George is an actress on Call the Midwife. She has two young children, and their names are Wren and Lark. Just beautiful.

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  4. I like the sound of the two main characters as well as the houseswapping. Sounds like a great premise for a cozy series.

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    1. It has so much potential! That's why I'm going to keep an eye out for the other places that Dora and Etta travel to.

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