#29: Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino

A cold-hearted husband is served up poison, but the prime suspect--his wife--is several hundred miles away when it happens, confounding the Tokyo police in Keigo Higashino's Salvation of a Saint.

This is Higashino's second "Detective Galileo" novel (after The Devotion of Suspect X) and follows a similar formula where the killer is actually revealed at the outset, and the main action is watching the police trying to figure out how exactly it was done (with the help of an eccentric professor).  This entry especially has kind of that old-fashioned "locked room" puzzle feel.

Interesting characters and situations add value, as does a really good audiobook read by David Pittu.

I checked this out from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.

#28: The Italian Party by Christina Lynch

A young, newly-married couple move to Italy to open a Ford dealership; but the husband is actually a spy, and that's not the biggest secret in their relationship. 

The Italian Party, Christina Lynch's debut novel, starts as if it is going to be a fizzy romp through 1950s Europe, but has much darker undertones in both personal and professional relationships.

I have visited Italy a half-dozen times over the years and felt like Lynch got the pitch exactly right.  The storytelling is compelling throughout and has a good balance of light and dark. 

Enjoyable overall and I look forward to more from Lynch.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.