Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander

Historical Mystery

What Goodreads says:

"Years ago, Emily's childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, scandalized polite society when she eloped to Venice with an Italian count. But now her father-in-law lies murdered, and her husband has vanished. There's no one Emma can turn to for help but Emily, who leaves at once with her husband, the dashing Colin Hargreaves, for Venice. There, her investigations take her from opulent palazzi to slums, libraries, and bordellos. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present day crime, she must first unravel a centuries old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people."

Death in the Floating City continues to showcase the writing talent of Tasha Alexander.

The Plot:  Look for multiple red herrings as the story progresses.  There are two stories in the book: one in the present and one in the past.  They are related and are the reason for the murder. 

The Characters:  Emily has center stage in this story.  Colin is there but often in an off stage role.  Emma, the old friend who ask for help is not seen very often.  The story is sprinkled with interesting characters from now and from the past.  As usual in the Lady Emily stories characters are introduced and developed in a way that adds to the mystery.  Venice with its history and location is an important character in the book.

The Writing:  Very well written.  The story moves along at a nice pace and the surprises are there to move everything along. 

The Setting:  Venice is a great city for a mystery.  As you follow Emily you get a very good idea of the layout, the history and the character of Venice.  I had a very good feel for the location and how it was important to the story.

The Back Story:  This is book seven in the series.  Only Emily and Colin were characters from the previous books.  That made it easy to get into the story.  This is an easy book to read as a stand-alone as the history in previous books is not a big factor in Death in the Floating City.

I found Death in the Floating City to be a great addition to the Lady Emily series.  If you are already a fan of the series you will enjoy the story and if this is your first book in the series you will want to find the previous six.

Minotaur Books published Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander in 2012.