Church bells chime in an ancient bell tower as architect Jordan Mayfair, from Savannah, Georgia, and her travel-writer uncle, Alexander Carlyle, arrive at Convento di Santa Francesca Firenze in Florence, Italy.
Jordan expects the 15th century convent with its exquisite gardens to offer a safe and serene retreat from the crowded, bustling, touristy district of Europe’s premier Renaissance city, and anticipates a romantic interlude with Paul Broussard, charming patron of the arts, who is flying in from Paris, just for her.
But the polizia municipale are on site, investigating a burglary by jewel thieves, and a mugging has occurred outside the convent walls. Several guests of the convent are not who they seem to be, and one is soon dead. A suicide, the police say. Jordan suspects murder.
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Her attempt to find justice for the victim leads her to discoveries as dark as the labyrinths of the convent that she explores with an architect’s eye, and as far-reaching as the spectacular Tuscan hills. But Jordan’s findings give little comfort as she uncovers the truth about Paul’s unstable daughter, Bella, who has come to Florence with evil intentions. In the third book of the Jordan Mayfair Mystery Series, treachery tears a prominent family apart, takes an innocent life, and threatens Jordan’s relationship with Paul that has evolved, through three books.
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Rating
In this one James Leipfold and Maile O’Hara are trying to catch a serial killer. The local authorities actually request their help. Because they’re having some difficulty with the case. This book actually kept me guessing. Which is a big plus when reading a mystery novel. 4.2 stars! Cheers everyone!
I’m so excited to review this book. It’s been a long time coming. When I say long time, what I mean to say is… it’s been a little over a year that I had to wait for this sequel. Dane Cobain a fellow booktuber sent me his first book in the Leipfold series back in 2018 and I was super excited to read it. Mystery set in a loosely based London? I’m always down for that type of read. So I dove into Driven with no expectations. I loved it. I loved the dynamic duo that is James Leipfold a Private Investigator and his spunky side kick assistant Maile O’Hara. I loved the bantar between Leipfold and his sometimes old cop friend Jack Cholmondeley. I loved that James was a recovering alcoholic that had a heart of gold and lemonade with a shot of whiskey just to smell it. I loved the murder mystery. I loved Camilla, Jame’s motorcycle and I loved the fact that the book reminded me of the 80’s movie Clue with a host of characters that may have been the murderer, but who did it?? In the sequel, The Tower Hill Terror….(nice ring to it don’t you think?) Jack and James are at it again. There has been another murder. A murder that starts off with a character that happened to be in the first book. Leipfold’s business is booming…well booming for James and Maile is a bonafide employee. Yes…. James is now paying her AND she gets time and a half for over time. I loved Maile in ‘Driven’ and I loved her even more in ‘The Tower…’ there were several laugh out loud moments and chuckles that burst out of me, especially when it was at Maile’s expense. When she is embarrassed it’s just so cute. Leipfold thought that helping in the last murder investigation would help his business and he was right. He has a handful of cases when a grisley murder takes place and Cholmondeley is calling his private second cell phone for Down Low emergencies. Of course Leipfold takes the case. Investigating in his own way, with style, and a bit of law breaking. Maile is her amazing self doing all the techie stuff and continuing to support her boss. What I love most about these two mysteries are the people. They are just fun to read about. Yes the murder’s are savage, but it’s the characters that I’m most interested in. I love that Leipfold is like a father figure to Maile. I love that Maile tries to play it off because of course she’s an adult and can take care of herself, but secretly I think she likes having someone else care about her. I love the way they work together on a crossword puzzles every morning while drinking coffee before they get down to business. I love that Cholmondeley relies on Leipfold and respects him even though he thinks the way he does things is a bit illegal. These books do not have to read in order in my opinion, but I do like reading things in publication order. If you like murder mysteries with great characters and serial killers I’d definitely pick up this book. Start with Driven first because it’s fun and you’ll want to spend as much time with these characters as possible. Dane didn’t send me ‘The Tower…’ this time around, I purchased it myself so I don’t have to kiss his ass, but I wouldn’t have to because these books are worth the read. Check them out.
