It’s a real pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for the latest book from Louise Douglas, The Secret of Villa Alba, and sharing my publication day review: published yesterday (3rd July) by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback and as an audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to publishers Boldwood for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Just this once, I won’t run through every single book Louise has ever written, and how much I’ve loved every one – I think you might just know by now that she’s been a firm personal favourite for rather a long time (you’ll find all the reviews if you pop her name into my search bar). And I’m certainly not the only one who thinks she’s something rather special – her first book for Boldwood, the wonderful The House by the Sea, published in February 2020, deservedly won the RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller award in 2021 (and, of course, was one of my books of the year – you’ll find my review here). The Scarlet Dress, in February 2021, was stunning (review here) – and The Room in the Attic, published in October 2021 immediately became my new favourite (and another review – you’ll find it here). But her last book, The Lost Notebook, published in September 2022, was equally wonderful – the mounting tension of a murder mystery beautifully balanced by her deft touch with the emotional content, one of those books you feel rather than simply read (review here). And now, we have another – and I was looking forward to it so much…
1968, Sicily. Just months after a terrible earthquake has destroyed the mountain town of Gibellina, Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are making their way back to the family home, Villa Alba del Ciliegio, on roads overlooked by the eerie backdrop of the flattened ghost town. When their car breaks down, Enzo leaves his young wife to go and get help, but when he returns there is no trace of Irene. No body, no sign of a struggle, nothing.
Present Day. TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired detective April Cobain, for help to prove her father’s innocence. But the tale April discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love. As the world slowly closes in on the claustrophobic Villa Alba, and the house begins to reveal its secrets, will the Borgata family wish they’d never asked April to investigate? And what did happen to Enzo’s missing wife Irene?
Bestselling author Louise Douglas returns with an irresistibly compelling, intriguing and captivating tale of betrayal, love, jealousy and the secrets buried in every family history…
In a stunning first person prologue, we’re taken back to 1968 – dusk in the Sicilian mountains near Gibellina, destroyed by the recent earthquake, as the creeping darkness envelops Enzo and his wife Irene, their car having broken down. And when help arrives – Enzo walks to the villa, leaving his disabled wife in the car – she has disappeared without trace.
From the letter his daughter Maddalena writes to former friend April in 2003, we discover that she was never found – and while her husband was initially under suspicion of being involved, the case was abandoned. But there’s now fresh interest – the case is to be featured on Milo Conti’s TV programme “Cold Case”, with possible fresh evidence that Enzo was responsible for Irene’s death. April is an ex-detective inspector, reluctant to become involved – she’s struggling with the recent loss of her husband, and her friendship with Maddalena fell apart rather dramatically some years before. But she has fond memories of Enzo, and decides to travels to Sicily, staying with the family at the Villa Alba, undertaking her own investigation – with a little help from the local police inspector – hoping to clear his name before the planned revelations.
It’s a dual time story, and quite wonderfully done – while April seeks to uncover her fresh evidence and gets a feel for the fractured family at the Villa Alba, we also have Irene’s interspersed first person account of her marriage and time in Sicily, addressed to someone whose identity becomes clearer as the story slowly unfolds. Enzo’s delight in his new marriage doesn’t make her reception by his traditional family any easier – from humble Yorkshire beginnings, she met him when he was a guest at the London hotel where she was working – and she’s entirely overwhelmed by the faded opulence of her surroundings and the open hostility of some of the family. She finds happiness through spending time at the stables with the horses – encouraged by Enzo’s father Patrick who recognises that she shares his passion, although there are others (and one particularly sinister character) who resent her involvement. Amid an atmosphere filled with tension and toxicity – the characterisation of the wider family and their household is quite superb, the claustrophobic atmosphere palpable – she slowly develops a relationship with Enzo’s young daughter, and the story steadily builds with unexpected twists and turns and an increasing sense of threat and danger, leading up to the drama of the earthquake and its devastating impact.
The family April encounters on her arrival aren’t any more welcoming – there are undercurrents to every relationship, a touch of the same hostility, discrepancies in their stories, secrets deeply hidden. Enzo’s in hospital with a heart attack caused by the pressure of the fresh accusations, the community whipped into a frenzy by the build-up to Milo Conti’s revelations, there are hints of possible mafia involvement in Irene’s disappearance – and then there are the small clues that allow her to steadily uncover the full story, with the reader sometimes a few steps ahead but sometimes several behind. And the ending? Well, I certainly didn’t see it coming – but it really was everything I wanted it to be.
There’s a quite wonderful sense of place, the villa itself – past and present – is vividly drawn, oozing with atmosphere, almost another character in the narrative. And you get a real sense of its isolation in the surrounding countryside, equally wonderfully described. The storytelling is simply perfect – beautifully constructed, it moves seamlessly between past and present, slowly unfolding with parallels and connections so very cleverly done. And the story itself, with its intrigue and moments of drama, totally immersive, the pages turning ever faster – but with immense emotional impact too, with characters you really take to your heart.
Yes, I know every book the author writes becomes my new favourite – but I really must say that I think she’s never written better. Very highly recommended – I absolutely loved it.
About the author
Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author of novels including The Love of my Life and Missing You – a RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country. Louise’s first book for Boldwood, The House by the Sea was published in March 2020, and was the winner of the RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller award.
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