THE VILLA IN ITALY

Elizabeth Edmondson £6.99

There is something about Elizabeth Edmondson's books which is deeply satisfying. She has intriguing plots and characters, great settings and endings that are positive, but not sentimental. She also has the happy knack of slipping in fascinating facts that make her books rich and compelling.

Her latest book is set in Liguria, Italy, at the Villa Dante in a 1950s spring and summer. Four people are summoned there under the will of the late Beatrice Malaspina. All have problems in their lives.

Delia, daughter of a Lord, is an opera singer and in love with her former boyfriend, now married to her sister. George, an atom scientist from Cambridge, is having difficulties coming to terms with the fact that he worked on the atom bomb. Marjorie, a profoundly blocked detective novel writer, has still not recovered from being dumped by a callous, shallow lover, while Lucius, a Boston banker, is haunted by his cold-blooded murder of an English soldier during the Second World War.

Once they arrive at the villa - with Delia's friend Jessica in tow - they are instructed to hunt for a document.

As they all become firm friends, so they discover the joys and mysteries of this magnificent house - including its frescoes and beautiful, if dilapidated gardens.

As family members, friends and enemies start to intrude on their peace, they also gradually uncover their links to the enigmatic and bohemian Beatrice in the medieval tower close to the house.

Intellectual, but undemanding, this is the perfect read for a cold winter day or for a summer holiday. In fact the only thing wrong with this wonderful Italian villa is that it's not real. It would be a wonderful place to visit.